Despite victories over a pair of Massachusetts opponents, the Londonderry Lightning 12-U softball squad wasn’t able to make it into playoff-round action at the regional tournament in Rochester late last week.
The locals overcame an early and hard-fought loss to a Connecticut opponent to best Bay State contingents from Burlington and Pittsfield in their second and third contests. But the Lightning’s 2-1 pool play record wasn’t quite enough to advance it into the playoff round.
After winning a Granite State district tournament several weekends ago, coach Mark Mayo’s talented, young Lightning crew made it all the way to the title game of the state tournament in Londonderry before falling to the tough Litchfield entry in that pressure-packed contest.
The local squad had defeated that very Litchfield bunch in the championship game of the district tourney a week earlier.
Mayo’s young ladies still qualified for the regional tourney by virtue of their runner-up finish at the state event.
The Lightning crew’s players include 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 local softball squad began its involvement in the regional tourney with a slim, 6-5 loss to the Stamford, Conn., entry Thursday afternoon, July 24. The Lightning was then lined up with the Burlington, Mass., contingent in its second game the next morning.
That Bay State opponent didn’t give the local softball squad any trouble, however, bowing to Londonderry in a 12-2 blowout that only required four innings to complete.
And after losing by just a single run in its first regional tourney contest, the Lightning won its third game by a run – 2-1 – over the Bay State bunch from Pittsfield.
However, the Londonderry team’s solid 2-1 record in its pool wasn’t enough to get it the top-two placement that would have moved it on in the regional tourney.