Brunswick — When Brunswick softball player Shelby Plourde crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning to mark the Dragon’s 12th run, activating the 12-run mercy rule, she and her teammates almost didn’t know what to do.

The 12-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win over Lewiston (0-4) ended what seemed like a never-ending losing streak that started during the 2012 season. The best part? The last win the Dragons (1-3) had came against the very team they played on Wednesday, sneaking by 10-9 just over three years ago.

“When you have that type of history, I think it’s more difficult for a young team, and we’re a very young team, to get that monkey so to speak off their back,” Brunswick coach Hugh Dwyer said. “For the girls, it’s just a great achievement. I think they’re stunned still. They’re reaction was, ‘Oh my gosh we won the game,’ but I don’t think they realized they won by a mercy rule.”

“We’re beyond excited,” Dragons starting pitcher Hannah Escoe said. “It’s not even explainable. It’s one of the best feelings I have ever had.”

Brunswick went after it right away, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a pair of singles to start things off by Escoe and Ashley Howe. With one out and runners on first and second, Gianna Gaudet sent a pitch down the third-base line, but an off-target throw allowed both runners to score.

With Gaudet on second as a result of the same play, Allie Eck replaced her as a courtesy runner and scored on a single to left by Ketty Stinson after reaching third on a wild pitch.

“It did take a little bit out of us,” Blue Devils coach Erica Crowley said in regard to the three Brunswick runs right out of the gate. “But, I don’t think they (my team) were done. I think we had a few errors that got us down a little bit. It’s been tough. We have a young group, and it’s been tough for them to come back, to build and fight back.”

Escoe rolled through, facing 25 batters in her six innings of work on the mound. She struck out three, while walking five, but allowed just three hits on the day. The only runner to get past second base was Lewiston’s Jordan Mynahan after back-to-back walks were issued in the sixth inning, forcing her to third. However, Escoe got out of the jam by getting Dani Cyr to pop out in foul territory.

“I think we battled with leaving girls on base (seven),” Crowley said. “We struggled with our hitting and really getting things through in clutch situations and not working the count to our advantage. I think those are the tough things that we need to work out.”

“I felt really good,” Escoe said. “I don’t even know how to describe it. It just felt amazing. Sometimes you get tired throughout the game and I was just worried that was going to happen and I was going to let my team down. I think I wanted it so bad that I just knew I had to pitch well.”

The Dragons tacked on three more runs in the third, with a big hit from Gaudet that one hopped the left-field wall for a ground-rule double. The biggest inning came in the fifth when Brunswick plated five runs to take an 11-0 lead. Plourde and Gaudet reached on free passes and then Sabrina Armstrong loaded the bases with a bloop shot into center. An errant throw allowed each runner to move up a base, with Plourde scoring in the process.

Eck, who substituted as a courtesy runner once more, and Armstrong scored on a single by Stinson. She and McKenzie Rogers plated the final two runs of the inning on another fielding error and a dropped third strike, respectively.

Plourde led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk, and after a wild pitch advanced her to second, she moved to third on a single by Gaudet. Armstrong then laced a pitch up the middle, allowing Plourde to score the final run of the contest.

“They hit the ball well,” Crowley said about Brunswick. “They’ve improved immensely. They did well. They hit well. They ran the bases well. Their coach has done a great job with them.”

“It’s certainly going to be a great boost of confidence,” Dwyer said. “On the other hand, we made some mistakes that we got to get better with. The best teams in our league will take advantage of the mistakes that we took advantage of today. I’m thrilled, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a great stepping stone. Rather than talking about an effort that wasn’t good enough, this is one that we can really highlight some meaningful positives.”