BY JERRY LIPTAKIt began with some strong individual efforts in the winter – a trickle of championships earned by Bow, Hopkinton and Concord athletes on the slopes and the mats. It continued in the spring and summer, with various teams hoisting title plaques for their lacrosse, baseball and softball prowess. It concluded with the Hopkinton ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORIt was a year of near-misses and so-closes on the 2007 Bedford sports landscape, though there were a few spot-ons mixed in. While dozens of local teams and individuals competed for the top prize in their respective class and/or division, from the youth level through high school and sometimes beyond, many went home empty ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORFor Hooksett-area teams and individual athletes, 2007 was a year in which the surprising became the norm, particularly at the high school level. Though squads such as the Central girls tennis team finished tops in Class L and Cawley Middle School collected multiple titles, other perennial contenders bowed out of the ...

The NH Nightmares 12U Black Softball, an ASA travel team, are holding an additional tryout for the 2007 Fall and 2008 Spring/Summer Season for competitive play.  Girls from Nashua and the surrounding area, who will be 12 or under by Dec 31 are encouraged to attend tryouts Saturday 9/8 9-11am at Lyons Field  on Allds ...

BY SAPNA PATHAKPast Spartans softball teams took it for granted, but Deb Smith makes sure her squad appreciates it. Allowing less than two runs in five out of their six wins, the girls of Pembroke Academy softball are proud to stand by their defense. “Sometimes PA softball hasn’t seen how important defense is and relied more on ...

BY SAPNA PATHAKKelsey Isham really is a good sport. But after driving in the game-winning run and earning her team a victory over a favorite rival, the Auburn native couldn’t resist going over to remind her opponents of the play. It’s not something you’d usually see Isham do, but this opposing lineup was different. “Well, ...

BY SAPNA PATHAKShe tried her best to smile after it was over. She forced a laugh here and there, attempting to disguise her somber tone. But Central’s Trish Ellis couldn’t mask her frustration. Never was that frustration more obvious this year than after a 7-2 softball loss to city rival Manchester West on Monday, April ...

BY MATT STOUTIn one of the first practices of this spring, head coach Zachary Medlock stood before the John Stark softball team and posed a simple question: “What position do you play?” For a group full of Amateur Softball Association-seasoned players, the query may have had an easy answer. But not on this year’s Stark ...

BY SAPNA PATHAKIf you must, credit the hitting and fielding drills, the countless hours spent teaching the fundamentals of fast-pitch. But the secret to head coach Harold Sachs’ consistent success with Salem High’s softball team is a notion. Indeed, instilling the idea that teamwork breeds championships has kept the Blue Devils a ...

BY SAPNA PATHAKIt’s the one question on every West High coach’s mind. What will happen to their athletic program once Bedford High School opens next year? Dan Drewniak learned faster than any other Blue Knights mentor what he needed to do to answer that question. After not having enough members to field a junior varsity softball team ...