Throughout its 2014 summer season, the Londonderry Lightning 12-U softball contingent ran smack dab into key games against the tough contingent from Litchfield again and again.
So it only seemed right when coach Mark Mayo’s Londonderry crew closed out the summer campaign by not only playing in the Litchfield squad’s tournament, but by facing that rival in the tourney’s title game.
The Lightning crew started its involvement in the area tourney with three pleasing performances on day one, in which it defeated the Merrimack Magic by a 6-3 count, the Windham Wildcats by a 5-2 tally, and the Rochester Slammers by that same 5-2 score. Those three wins allowed the locals to claim the top pool seed heading into day two of play.
“Our defense and pitching were strong, and we limited good-hitting teams to just a few runs each game,” said Mayo.
Things began even more impressively for Mayo’s mob on day two, as the Lightning lasses mauled both the Manchester Rockers (15-0) and Windham (12-2) to find themselves in the title contest with their tourney hosts.
But very little went the Londonderry contingent’s way in that championship match, as the locals wound up dropping an 11-1 decision to the hosts. Mayo still found plenty with which to be pleased regarding his charges’ overall play on their final day of the 2014 summer season.
“The defense turned three double plays in the first two games. Double plays are rare, and everything has to go flawlessly. These girls executed,” said the coach. “The bats were alive in the first two games, with everyone contributing and aggressively running the bases. We have had several battles with Litchfield during the season, and this one didn’t go our way.”
The Lightning crew’s players included Catherine Beaton, Emily Cowette, Kylee McGurn, Miranda Galan, Hunter Langley, Jocelyn Mayo, Delaney McGurn, Kayla Miles, Alivia Proulx, Madison Osier, Courtney Shay, Michaela Doyle, and Cailin Borovicka.
The Lightning was a district tournament winner earlier this summer, and that success placed the locals in the state tournament on the Londonderry Athletic Field Association’s Ron Campo Complex.
The Lightning got all the way to the state championship game – against Litchfield – and lost. In snagging runner-up status at the state event, the locals qualified for the regionals in Rochester.
However, after posting a solid 2-1 record in first-round play at the regionals, Mayo and his young ladies learned they wouldn’t be advancing to the playoff round.
That left the Lightning team with just the Litchfield tourney remaining.