LEWISTON — In recent seasons, the Lewiston softball team might have jumped out to an early lead against its rivals from Edward Little — and then given it back soon thereafter.

Thursday, the Blue Devils scored early and kept the lid on any Red Eddies rally for a 5-3 win.

It was the fifth win for Lewiston, which went 1-15 last year. It was the first loss for EL this season, a team the Blue Devils hadn’t beaten in years.

“The girls have been playing so well,” Lewiston coach Mike Child said. “I’m so proud of these girls. It’s not just today, it’s been from the beginning and it’s been a blast.”

Megan Theriault allowed just one hit through the first four innings and finished with a five-hitter. She struck out five and walked none. The defense played flawlessly until two errors late in the game. Jordan Mynahan was superb at third. Kallie May made a great running catch in left and Danielle Cyr made a nice catch at second.

“This was a big game for Heal Points,” said Child, whose team jumped up to third in the A North standings while EL is first. “We’ve got a big game (Friday). We have Mt. Blue and we can’t play a game like this and have a let down.”

Theriault, Mynahan and Cyr drove in runs, and Lewiston built the early lead. The Blue Devils (5-2) scored three in the first and made it 4-0 in the second.

“There was definitely a lot of motivation to just go out there and pitch a good game for my team,” Theriault said.

Kylie Bureau had two hits and did a nice job pitching in relief for Edward Little (5-1). Jordyn Reynolds drove in a pair with a hit in the sixth. EL just got behind early and couldn’t erase a 5-1 deficit.

“We just have to be mentally prepared,” EL coach Elaine Derosby said. “In this league,  you can’t overlook anyone. I don’t think they overlooked anyone, but they weren’t as prepared as they needed to be.”

Lewiston scored three runs in the first to build the lead. Mynahan singled in Lexi Poulin and then a Theriault hit plated Meagan Gosselin. Later,  Mynahan scored on a passed ball. In the second, Makayla Girouard walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

EL starter Sarah Hammond went two innings and allowed four runs on four hits before being replaced by Bureau. Lewiston’s May had an at-bat in the first that forced Hammond to throw an abundance of pitches. She never found consistency after that. Bureau allowed just two hits in relief.

“We don’t want to be perfect at the beginning,” Derosby said. “We want to be perfect at the end. If this is a lesson for that piece of the game, then we’ll take it and we’ll move on. We have work to do. We have Oxford Hills (Friday). So we’ve got to move on quick.”

Bureau had the only hit for EL through the first four innings. She tripled in the fifth and scored on an error. Lewiston got that back in the bottom of the inning when Cyr had a bloop single drop between EL fielders, plating Gosselin for a 5-1 lead.

In the sixth, the Red Eddies produced its best offensive push. EL got one-out hits by Emmy Lashua and Hammond. Taylor Depot reached on an error to load the bases. Reynolds followed with a two-run single. Theriault served up a ground out to end the inning.

“It was nerve-wracking because I thought they might catch up because I know they’re a good hitting team,” Theriault said. “I’m definitely proud of my fielders because they really had my back.”

Lewiston has outscored opponents 40-5 in the last three games. EL has averaged seven runs per outing and have scored at least six runs in every game but Thursday.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on hitting but the last couple of games, we haven’t hit the ball well,” Dersoby said. “I can’t take anything away from Lewiston. They made some huge plays. Jordan (Mynahan) probably took away two or three base hits on the corner. She made some huge glove saves on those. It wasn’t our day. We’ve got to get better.”

kmills@sunjournal.com