BY SAPNA PATHAK

Don’t talk to Wake Stillman about moral victories. It’s a term he doesn’t believe in, and it certainly isn’t making any appearances in any of the talks he gives his team.

But that’s not to say he doesn’t appreciate the positives that come from a losing effort.

The Goffstown High softball head coach saw plenty of good things in a 7-1 loss on Monday, April 23. Facing defending Class L champion Salem, Goffstown showed it could hang with the state’s best.

“You can play well and still lose,” said Stillman. “You gotta go in expecting to win. We had a couple bad innings they got to us, but we showed we can put the bat on the ball against good, quality pitching. We didn’t have a lot of strikeouts, whereas before there would’ve been 13, 14 Ks.”

Grizzlies starter Lauren Gifford gave up three quick runs on two hits in the first inning but settled in when she returned to the mound in the second. The senior showed good control, staying ahead of the hitters to force ground balls and popouts.

The Blue Devils offense struck again in the fifth inning, scoring two more runs, for a 5-0 lead, on three hits.

“I felt a little tired out there,” said Gifford of the fifth inning. “It (the score) feels a lot closer because it was just those two innings they scored. We knew they were good, but we hit the ball, but just right to them. It felt good to score a run on such a strong team.”

The offense, quieted for most of the game by Salem starter Emily Wolf, picked up its lone run in the sixth inning.

Trisha Larivee fanned before leadoff hitter Katie Ethier grounded out to the second baseman. But with two outs, Goffstown second baseman SueEllen Nault dug in and knocked a hard double into left field. Only the strong arms of Salem’s well-respected outfielders kept Nault at second.

The Grizzlies tri-captain came around when Gifford hit a double to center field, good for the first run allowed by Salem since its season opener. Shortstop Ethier joined Gifford and Nault as the only Grizzlies to record a hit, finishing the day with two each.

“It was nice to get that run, but what I liked most about it was it showed we can make contact,” said Stillman. “Not a lot happens without contact. We knew we had to score, but it’s not easy to score against Salem. It took us six innings to get a run, but I’m still very satisfied with the way we played.”

The Grizzlies are at Central on Friday, April 27.