Not a great start for Whitehall pitcher Madison Gould. But it’s the finish that everyone will remember from Friday’s Adirondack League softball championship game.

Gould retired 15 of the next 16 batters and struck out 15 overall as Whitehall beat Lake George 12-3. The Railroaders avenged a loss to Lake George in last year’s league championship game.

The Railroaders scored runs in a variety of ways to overcome the early 2-0 deficit and improve to 14-1. There were no crushing blows, but every batter in the lineup reached base at least once. Whitehall scored four runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth.

All of which backed up another strong performance in the circle by Gould, who recovered quickly after the first two batters of the game.

“I kind of took that and said I needed to throw harder and make things work,” Gould said. “It was the first inning, so we had time to come back.”

“I wasn’t worried at that point,” Whitehall coach Pam Putorti said. “It was the top of the first, we normally have big bats in games, and I was hoping that we would keep our heads about us, fight through it, and we did.”

After the two-run homer in the first inning, Gould struck out seven of the next eight batters. At bat, Gould and her teammates were constantly circling the bases.

The Railroaders got one back right away in the bottom of the first when Vinna Jensen worked through a nine-pitch at-bat to walk, steal second and later score on an error.

Whitehall took advantage of walks to fill the bases in the second, an inning that featured an unusual play involving a Jensen sacrifice fly. A nice catch was made on the long drive, but two runners scored on the play. Lake George appealed to both second and third; umpires ruled the runners properly tagged up.

Olivia Whiting also drove in two with a single in the second. Braydee Benjamin had a two-run single in the fourth and Ava Ruby drove in two with a hit in the fifth.

Jensen seemed to be in the middle of every rally, in a variety of ways. She reached on her first-inning walk, hit the sacrifice fly in the second, had a bunt single in the fourth and latter added two more singles.

“Everybody contributed,” Putorti said. “Morgan (Stevens) had some good catches in right field. Vinna laid down one hell of a bunt to advance runners. We called on people we don’t normally call on to do certain things and they came through.”

Lake George (11-3) was hurt by 11 walks and an inability to get much going against Gould after the first inning.

“I wish we could have could have been more successful at the plate with more timely hits,” Lake George coach Kim Zilm said. “Gould is a great pitcher who has great command of her pitches ... you have to give it to her.”

The teams can now turn their attention to sectionals. Both teams complete in Class C, so a rematch is possible.