BY MATT STOUT
Thirteen innings, a combined 31 strikeouts, two no-out, bases-loaded situations – and no runs to show for it.
They’re oddities for most teams. They were the norm for the Manchester West softball team this season.
Though it definitely stung more, the Blue Knights’ 1-0, extra-inning loss to sixth-seeded Concord in the first round of the Class L state tournament on May 30 played out like many of its losses – and a few of its wins.
A stingy defensive squad that relied on the arms of pitchers Kurstin Provencher, Lynn Brewster and others, West’s inability to find offense at the necessary times limited it throughout the regular season and its short stay in the playoffs.
The 11th-seeded Blue Knights managed nine hits against the Crimson Tide and, up against one of the state’s best pitchers in Becky Hoidahl, found the same trouble that haunted them nine times this season when they scored one run or less.
Yet, for all the aggravation the Blue Knights lived with at the plate, they enjoyed “a real fun year, a real positive year” in which they went 8-11, climbed into the playoffs and prepared a young team for seasons to come, West coach Dan Drewniak said.
“The only frustration I have left with all year were from results like this,” said Drewniak, who’ll lose three seniors in captain Melissa Vitagliano, Ashton Levis and Sarah Johnson next season. “It’s just been positive. I never left a game saying, ‘We lost a game.’ The other team beat us.”
By Drewniak’s count, West’s first-round loss was the fourth game this season that played out past the 12th inning and the third in which Provencher, who was at times dominant in an 11-strikeout, 11-inning performance against Concord, pitched. The junior also started West’s 14-inning 1-0 loss against the Tide earlier this spring.
Yet, when a team is staring 0-0 in the face most nights, long, drawn-out affairs can be common. West tried everything to break out of it, which included switching bats, changing stances, and as Drewniak put it, letting his players “freestyle” to find their groove.
But the hitting, like the fortunate bounces, never came, despite the Blue Knights getting steady hitting in the end from underclassmen like freshman Megan Rumore, who went 2-for-5 in the postseason, and Provencher, who had three hits.
They also saw a team gel despite the sometimes dramatic age differences.
“We were talking one night, and one girl was talking about being 18 and another girl, she says, ‘I’m turning 14 next week,’” said a laughing Drewniak, who’ll lose no freshmen to the new Bedford High School next year. “And they’re like, ‘No way.’”
In turn, it has Drewniak believing in the future of the program, which will sorely miss the leadership and defensive play the three graduating starters brought to the field.
“We have a bright future here,” Drewniak said.