The Londonderry Lightning softball organization had several of its teams claim huge tournament victories over the Fourth of July weekend, with the 10-U contingent collecting the Babe Ruth District 4 Championship in Litchfield and the 8-U crew taking top honors at the Lamprey River “Bring the Heat” Tournament in Raymond after a rough start at that event.
The 10-U bunch, which is head coached by Kevin Handy, includes players Riley Burns, Samantha Daniels, Brooklynn Flinkfelt, Emily Goldberg, Lilly Haggett, Lauren Laudani, Sarah Peckham, Madison Saucier, Sofia Tringali, and Sarah Weeks, and edged the host Litchfield Blast contingent by a 9-8 tally in the Babe Ruth title contest on Sunday, July 3 to win the big hardware.
The Lightning squad’s bats were busy that day, and when the final out had been recorded the locals had managed the 9-8 victory over the tough Blast bunch on its home diamond.
The two teams combined for 17 hits, including seven extra-base smacks, in the hard-fought contest. The rivals traded runs throughout most of the contest, leading to seven lead changes along the way.
The key for the Lightning was a strong sixth inning, with a passed ball scoring Weeks to give the locals the lead for good and all.
Weeks managed a hit in each of her two at-bats, singling in both the fourth and sixth innings.
Laudani got the pitching win for the Lightning despite allowing eight runs over six innings. She struck out 13 would-be hitters, walked eight, and surrendered six hits.
Litchfield snared a 2-0 lead in the top half of the third inning, but it didn’t take long for the Lightning to get its offense cracking as well. The locals responded by scoring two runs of their own in the third, with Flinkfelt rapping an RBI single and Daniels lacing a ground-out that also produced a run.
Londonderry scored four more runs in the fifth after being behind to start that inning, and the locals’ highly-productive sixth frame got them to the vital victory.
Riley Burns led the Lightning’s potent offensive attack with a two-run double, two stolen bases, and a pair of runs scored as well.
And during that same span over the holiday weekend, head coach Mike Saucier’s Lightning 8-U crew battled its way to the title at the Lamprey River tournament, bringing the heat in earnest after starting out 0-3 in pool play.
Both local contingents appear poised to vie for even more success before the summer’s over.