BREWER — In sports, the difference between winning and losing often can be a lucky break or two.

That was the case for the defending state champion Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners at Coffin Field Thursday as they fell to the Penobscot Valley Howlers 3-0 for the Eastern Maine Class D Softball Championship.

The Howlers came up with the only runs they needed in the first inning against the Mariners.

An infield single by Kirsten Batchelder and a pop single over first base by Shaelyn Jones gave the Howlers runners at first and second with no outs.

Reese Leonard then hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double play grounder toward second baseman Julie Hutchins.

But Jones ran in front of Hutchins at the very moment the ball arrived. With her view blocked, the ball bounced off Hutchins’ foot and rolled away.

She chased the ball down and threw to home plate, but the throw was off the mark and Batchelder and Jones both scored.

Leonard was thrown out at third base and Mariner righthander Sydney Ouzts struck out the next two batters, but the damage was done.

With a 2-0 lead to work with, Penobscot Valley righthander Kayla Dube never let it get away.

Janelle Ciomei singled for the Mariners in the fourth inning, but Dube retired the next three batters.

In the fifth, Moriah Nutter and Hutchins opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but Dube then retired the side on strikeouts.

The Howlers added a final run in the top of the seventh when Jones singled, stole second and third and scored on an errant throw.

A seventh-inning double by Nutter was the only other hit for the Mariners.

Dube went the distance, allowing four hits, striking out nine and walking nobody.

She used her rise ball to good effect against the Mariners, who swung at a lot of high pitches during the game.

Mariner coach Terry Siebert said the team had talked earlier about laying off high pitches.

“They were patient the first couple of innings,” he said, “but as they got distressed, they chased the high pitch because they really wanted to hit the ball so bad.”

In the final game of her three-year, 35-win pitching career with the Mariners, Ouzts also was superb, giving up just three hits, striking out nine and walking  nobody.

It was the first loss of the season for the fifth-ranked Mariners, who finished with an 18-1 record.

For more sports news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.