BY SAPNA PATHAK

Cross Londonderry off the list – the list of opponents Salem has rolled through during its Class L softball reign. The Lancers are just another squad which settled for the runner-up plaque after facing the Blue Devils for the state title.

And they’re not alone.

Winning eight of the last 10 Class L championships – and taking the top prize in 14 of the program’s 16 seasons – the Blue Devils completed back-to-back titles with a convincing 5-1 victory at Memorial Field on Saturday, June 9.

Three dramatic, one-run wins moved the locals to the finals, and, afterward, Salem head coach Harold Sachs simply thanked his squad for not letting this one come down to the wire.

“The other three games, they were really close,” said Sachs after the win on Saturday, June 8. “We beat (Nashua) South, 1-0, then the quarterfinals we had to come from behind to win by a run. The Dover game (in the semifinals) came right down to the final out and final hit. I was just glad we didn’t have anything like that again. I’ll take a game like this over a close one any day.”

Maybe testing their coach’s nerves during the tournament’s first three games was enough: this time, top-seeded Salem came out swinging early – and hard.

Leadoff hitter and shortstop Brenna Morrissey drew a walk to open the bottom of the first, coming around on a one-out hit-and-run play when No. 3 hitter Katie Bettencourt slammed an RBI triple to right field on an 0-2 pitch. Senior Casey Stoodley scored Bettencourt on an infield out for a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Devils defense showed style of its own when center fielder Meghan St. Pierre preserved the lead, making a leaping catch with two outs and a Lancer on first in the top of the second.

“They have really good hitters,” said Bettencourt, who finished with two RBI and two extra-base hits. “So if it’s 5-1 or 10-1, we’re really trying to do everything not to let them score because they do it fast if you let them. We know they have good hitting, good pitching. It’s like playing ourselves.”

Salem extended its lead in the third when starter Alex Gallant scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch.

Bettencourt blasted a double to score Gallant in the home-half of the fifth before Erica DePinto made it 5-1 with a two-out double.

Gallant, who allowed one run on two hits in four innings, gave way to Emily Wolfe, who struck out two of the three batters she faced. Chelsea Durso closed the door on the Lancers, tossing two scoreless innings.

“We had a lot of pressure coming into this game,” said Bettencourt. “We’re Salem. We’ve got a target on our backs, and we know that. Today, I think, we played like ourselves, instead of how we looked in the last three games. Today, we looked like our normal selves, definitely.”

And “normal,” in Salem’s case, is synonymous with excellence.