Spruce Mountain’s Haley Turcotte slides safely into home as Monmouth Academy’s Abby Ferland waits for the ball in the first inning during a softball game in Monmouth on Friday. (Tony Blasi/Sun Journal)

MONMOUTH — Spruce Mountain softball coach Clint Brooks was so proud of his team’s 3-1 victory over talented Monmouth Academy that not even being thrown out of the game in the seventh inning could spoil his jovial mood on a murky Friday afternoon.

This thrilling, nine-inning game was brought to you by a pair evenly matched teams and two stubborn pitchers who went the distance and didn’t know how to quit.

“I think the most impressive thing is in a game like this, I mean Rob and I understand how important it is. and I think some of the juniors and seniors do,” Brooks said. “Some of the underclassmen, it is a game. When you throw a freshman behind the plate, a freshman out on the mound and you turn out a game like this, (with) good defense, and Hannah (Turcotte) didn’t walk many tonight.

“She had her game under control. She is seeing a pitching coach now and working out some of the bugs in her game. But it is big when you can throw two freshmen out there in a game.

“But I thought overall, our defense looked pretty well tonight.”

The Phoenix (3-2) made it all happen in the top of the ninth with the game locked up at 1-1. Spruce’s Calley Baker and Dalton Morgan each got on with a hit. Baker came home on catcher Abby Ortiz’s sharp hit to the shortstop. Morgan sped home after Brooke Buote was thrown out at first after hitting a grounder to second base.

But just when Spruce Mountain thought it was home free, the feisty Mustangs (3-2) loaded the bases with the help of Haylee Langlois’s double and a single by Abby Ferland with one out.

Winning freshman pitcher Hannah Turcotte (nine strikeouts) didn’t flinch in the circle and struck out Monmouth’s McKenzie Boucher for the second out, and Deanna Bauer flied out to center field to end the threat.

“They played well,” Monmouth Academy coach Dave Kaplan said. “We just didn’t get that timely hit at the right time and they played good defense.

“The shortstop is exceptional. The catcher controlled the game real well. The pitcher threw bullets. They have got some good talent out there.

“I am not disappointed. It is a learning experience. It is a long season. We’ve got another 11 games to go and we are going to win some of them. We’ll get the bats cranked up.”

In the first inning, Spruce got on the board with a run. Shortstop Haley Turcotte reached on an error and moved to third. From there, she scored from on a passed ball to give Spruce the lead.

For the next five innings, the Phoenix held on dearly to a 1-0 lead before the Mustangs tied it in the sixth. McKenzie Boucher got on with with a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Emma Johnson, who scored on Abby Flannagan’s single.

The Phoenix got something going when Baker and Morgan got on with singles. But when Baker went to steal third, she was called out for leaving early before the ball left Monmouth pitcher Emily Chasse’s hand.

“She’s a good pitcher. She threw a great game,” Kaplan said. “Great softball game. It is what we live for.”

Brooks quietly spoke to the umpire for a couple minutes in the infield before the Spruce Mountain coach was thrown out of the game.

Winning pitcher Hannah Turcotte goes into a windup against Monmouth Academy in Monmouth on Friday. (Tony Blasi/Sun Journal)

Spruce Mountain shortstop Haley Turcotte tries get a hold of the ball as Monmouth’s Haylee Langlois slides safely into the bag in Monmouth on Friday. (Tony Blasi/Sun Journal)