Richmond, Buckfield battle in rubber match for crown

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

By MATT DiFILIPPO
Staff Writer

By MATT DiFILIPPO

Staff Writer

Richmond and Buckfield are perennially two of the top softball teams in Western D, and they've split their meetings this year. Buckfield won the first game 5-4 while Richmond took the rematch 8-3, a game Richmond coach Rick Coughlin missed because he was attending his sons' graduation from Columbia University.

"Probably I shouldn't be around for the next one," Coughlin said with a big laugh.

Coughlin will be there today as No. 1 Richmond (15-2) takes on second-seeded Buckfield (13-4) in the Western D final at 3 p.m., at St. Joseph's College in Standish. These two teams are longtime rivals. Buckfield won the state title in 2002 and 2003, while Richmond won last season.

"It's such a rivalry," Buckfield coach Ken Farrington said. "There's a lot of excitement and that first inning or two can make a difference."

As Coughlin pointed out, Richmond has more playoff experience while Buckfield is fairly young. Each team has a quality pitcher in Richmond's Sarah Coonradt and Buckfield's Desiree Brackett. Both coaches feel the game could be decided by mistakes. Farrington said his team is looking better than it did in that loss to Richmond, in which Buckfield was outhit, 15-2.

"We were in a batting slump," Farrington said. "We didn't have confidence. Since then, we've had some college pitchers come in and get us back on track."

Today's other softball game involving a central Maine team takes place at 7 p.m., in Brewer, as top-ranked Bucksport (16-2) faces No. 3 Winslow (15-3) in the Eastern B final.

The two coaches are almost fixtures this time of year. Winslow coach Terry Parlin has won four regional titles, while Bucksport has made it to the Eastern B final 11 times in 15 years under coach Mike Carrier.

Both teams have combined potent, opportunistic offenses with strong pitching and defense to get to this point. Carrier said his team will need to shut down Winslow's bunting and do the job on offense.

The Bucks will start sophomore Terren Hall, who Carrier said has pitched several important games in summer softball. Winslow will start either senior Janelle Sylvester or sophomore Brynne Davis.

"We've got to play our game," Parlin said. "We know what we can do and what we can't do, and I surely have to focus on the things that we do well, and see if those will work for us."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com