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Exeter softball bounces back after Concord loss beats Central Memorial
EXETER – The Exeter High School softball team, coming off last year’s Division I state championship, won its first 14 games of the season, and outscored its opponents, 139-17.
Then last Wednesday, in a rematch of last year’s title game, Exeter suffered its first loss of the season, a 4-1 defeat to Concord. A loss that Exeter senior Kristen Beebe described as humbling.
“I really just think that humbled us and we were ready to go after whoever was next and (get back to) winning,” Beebe said of the team’s first loss. “We really just have to instill the mindset that if we lose after the regular season, then we’re not having practice the next day. So, we were really just trying to up our game and really focus at practice, focus in the game, and do our best.”
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In other words, the Blue Hawks didn’t view the Concord game as a loss, but as something to learn from.
Learning moment
“The humility of losing is something that every team needs every once in a while,” Exeter’s Val Borges said. “It was just a really good thing for us.”
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The loss was just Exeter’s second in its last 35 games after going 20-1 last season en route to winning the Division I championship.
Exeter and Concord, along with Winnacunnet, are the only one-loss teams in Division I remaining as the final week of the regular season has arrived.
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“Any team on any night can beat you, you can be beaten,” Exeter head coach Kristen Morissette said. “So I think that (loss) was just a reminder to us that we have to stay hungry and stay focused.”
Embracing the loss and learning from it doesn’t mean the team was happy, but Morissette added that it does relieve some of the pressure.
“It’s nice to be undefeated, but it’s hard to go undefeated in a season,” Morissette said. “Some of the pressure is off and we just have to focus on the games ahead.”
Senior co-captain Emma Plourde said the team won’t dwell on one loss.
“We’re just going to keep going forward full force ahead, and get to the point we were last year,” Plourde said.
After averaging 9.9 runs per game in the Blue Hawks’ first 14 games, the Blue Hawks’ one run is the lowest scoring output of the season, and was only the sixth instance in 15 games Exeter didn’t score in double figures.
“I think we definitely could play better,” Exeter senior Chloe Brunelle said. “We need to hit a little better, we’ve struggled this year with the bat … our offense needs to get a little bit better.”
“There was just a lot of pressure building up to the (Concord) game, and I don’t think we had anything to lose,” Beebe said. “I think we were just going out there playing, They can have that one, we’re going to get them in the playoffs.”
Exeter’s chance to bounce back
The best way to get over a loss is to take the field again, and it was a long five days before the Blue Hawks’ next game, which came on Monday against Manchester Central/Memorial.
“We wanted to get right back on the field the next day,” Morissette said.
“I just wanted to see us get back at it, especially with the bats,” Plourde said. “Like Chloe (Brunelle) said, our defense has been pretty good. It’s hard to not have a good defense when Kristen (Beebe) is on the mound, so everybody else sort of follows behind her and has her back. I think today was a great representation of getting the bats back and doing well.”
Exeter scored eight runs in the first inning, and seven in the second on its way to a 17-0 Division I shutout on Monday. It was the third time Exeter has scored at least 15 runs, and its the second highest scoring total by the Blue Hawks this season. Exeter scored 18 at Nashua South.
“I thought it was a really good win, we played really well as a team,” Borges said. “We got the bat on the ball, and it was just overall a good performance by everyone.”
Exeter, highlighted by a three-run homer in the second inning from Plourde, sprayed 15 hits over the field.
“I just wanted to see better discipline at the plate, swinging at better pitches and making better contact and I thought they did that,” Morissette said. “They adjusted to the pitching and made some good contact.”
Plourde had two hits and four RBIs for Exeter, while Annie Christiana, Madi Paige (two RBIs), Summer LeClerc and Chloe Brunelle all had two hits.
On the mound, Beebe continued her dominance with three innings of work, and struck out all nine batters she faced.
“(Beebe) is amazing, she’s awesome,” Brunelle said. “I played with her in rec ball when we were children and she’s gotten so much better, the work she puts in is amazing. And our fielding is great as well.”
Edy Crawford pitched the final two innings, striking out six and allowing just one hit.
What’s coming up for Exeter
Exeter hosts Nashua North on Tuesday, and ends the regular season Friday at Salem. Even sitting at 15-1, the Blue Hawks still think there’s another level they can climb to.
“We can always get better, there’s always room to improve,” Plourde said. “I’d say we’re in a good spot as of right now, but tournament week, we definitely need to be taking it up a couple of notches, especially offensively and everybody is all in.”
