BY SAPNA PATHAK
It doesn’t really mean anything to Duke Sawyer. He won’t lose any sleep over it since there are still eight games left to make up for it. It’s the approach that Concord High softball head coach took after watching the Crimson Tide drop a 3-0 decision to defending Class L champion Salem.
Hosting the Blue Devils on Monday, May 7, Concord was fresh off a tough loss three days earlier to Alvirne. But that’s what tough-luck losses are about: building character. They prepare teams for the intensity of the playoffs.
And that’s exactly what Sawyer has in his sights.
“All the regular season is for is getting ready for the tournament,” said Sawyer. “Obviously you’d like to go into it as the No. 1 seed, but we can’t. So we’re using the season to find the right combos that will work in the tournament.”
Sending ace Becky Hoidahl, the Crimson Tide’s all-time strikeout leader, to the mound against Salem’s Alex Gallant provided an entertaining battle. Hoidahl baffled the Blue Devils with a rising fastball, while Gallant quieted the Crimson Tide with a sinking pitch that finished near batters’ ankles as it crossed the plate.
Hoidahl ended her complete-game performance with eight strikeouts. She allowed three hits, all in the final two frames.
Before putting up the game’s only runs, Salem stymied what looked like a legitimate Concord scoring threat.
Senior co-captain Hoidahl started the bottom of the fifth inning by drawing a walk before first baseman Sasha Duprey reached on an error. With two on and one out, senior Nicole Gladieux bunted, but Salem catcher Katie Bettencourt threw out Hoidahl at third. Gallant came back to strike out Bry Bradley to end the inning.
“We haven’t scored a run in the last two games,” said Sawyer, referring to the losses against Salem and Alvirne. “That’s quite unusual for us. In all (four) of our losses, we haven’t been hitting.”
Salem tallied two runs in the top half of the sixth when Bettencourt blooped a single to right, Casey Stoodley followed with an RBI triple to center field, and Gallant came up with a run-producing double. The Blue Devils tacked on another run in the seventh when Julia Gray smacked a triple and scored on a throwing error.
Concord third baseman Hilary Kane broke up Gallant’s bid for a no-hitter when she doubled down the left-field line. Kane entered the game batting .400. The loss dropped Concord to 7-4 as of Monday, May 7.
“I knew it would come down to whoever scored first,” said Sawyer. “Both pitchers did such a great job. You knew it would be one team breaking through at some point and that would be it. I thought we might be in their class, but we’re obviously not because we had the runners and couldn’t move them, and they got the hits when they had to.”
The Crimson Tide host Trinity of Manchester on Friday, May 11.