Thursday and Friday promise a full slate of playoff action on the diamond and the lacrosse field. Let’s take a look at what’s scheduled and what might happen.
ConVal finished at 8-8 after losing their last two games of the season, landing them right in the middle of Division II as the ninth seed. That earns them a trip over to No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas, which finished just ahead of the Cougars at 9-7.
Isaac Blake’s had a terrific season on the mound, making him the logical choice to start the game at St. Thomas. The Saints have only one signature win on the season, an 8-6 win over Goffstown back on May 11; other than that, St. Thomas hasn’t beaten anyone better than No. 7 Oyster River.
ConVal travels to St. Thomas Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Orioles cruised through the regular season with ease after an opening loss to Campbell, only to drop the final game of the season to surging Bow. That loss dropped Conant from their brief perch atop Division III in the second seed, which toughens the Orioles’ draw. Conant will host No. 18 Hopkinton — a much stronger team than their 8-9 record might suggest — Thursday at 4 p.m.
Senior slugger Craig Bilodeau leads the way for Conant (22 RBI, three HR and an absurd 1.499 OPS). Junior fireballer James Record (6-0) and lanky righthander Corbin Sasner (6-1) have been impressive this year, each only allowing a pair of earned runs on their way to some stellar ERAs (0.372 for Sasner, 0.378 for Record).
Conant’s side of the bracket allows them to avoid a rematch with No. 1 Campbell until, potentially, the finals; if the Orioles win, they can look forward to a possible matchup with No. 3 Belmont or another go-round with No. 6 Bow.
If it wasn’t for Monadnock and Conant, the Vikings might have finished right near the top of Division III this year. Unfortunately for Mascenic, they didn’t score once in four tries against those teams, and they ended up in 8th place, just inching into the last playoff spot that guarantees a home game.
Mascenic will face No. 9 White Mountains, after the Spartans dropped their final game of the season to Mascoma Valley.
The Vikings made their mark with speed and small ball this season — and some strong pitching from Scott Humphrey, Cooper Wayrynen and Chase Holombo. Humphrey and his 3.47 ERA is almost certain to get the ball when Mascenic hosts White Mountains Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Warriors drew a familiar foe for their first playoff opponent: Epping. The Blue Devils won both their games against WLC this year, a 6-0 shutout started by freshman Neal Brennan and an 8-1 affair which was junior Sean McClure’s first start of the year. Both of those games, though, came when Warrior ace Christian Seeley was unavailable to pitch; when WLC takes their home field on Thursday at 4 p.m., Seeley will be on the mound, and that gives the Warriors the edge.
“Whatever game he pitches, we’re in the game,” said head coach Dave Finch. “It doesn’t matter who. It’s really our bats that have to come alive.”
Indeed, though Seeley was dominant this season — at one point, he reeled off 30 straight innings without an earned run — the Warriors didn’t provide him with much support. Nonetheless, Seeley picked up wins over No. 2 Sunapee and No. 3 PCA Dover, and nearly beat Sunapee again before losing 1-0 after a rain delay.
If the Warriors give him some help, they would set up another trip to PCA Dover on Saturday, assuming the Eagles can beat No. 4 Profile.
Other than a pair of losses to rival Mascenic and a season-opening loss to defending champs Campbell, there is only one other blemish on the Orioles’ record this season — a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Pelham back on April 29. But as luck would have it, Conant, who finished 7th in DIII at 12-4, gets Pelham again in the playoffs.
Conant boasts a pair of strong pitchers in senior Maddy Springfield and freshman Brenna Welch, and no matter which one takes the bump on Thursday, the Orioles have a good chance at avoiding a repeat of their last matchup with the No. 10 Pythons.
Plus, Conant’s lineup is stacked with sluggers, led by Sierra Landry and Devon Blood, which should be enough to get Pelham shaking in their cleats. Conant hosts Pelham Thursday at 4 p.m.
The upstart Vikings lived up to the hype this season, starting off on a seven-game win streak and finishing on a six-gamer, punctuated by the first season sweep of Conant in recent memory. That 14-3 record was good enough for fourth in the division, and the rivalry game wins have the Vikings in high spirits. But to keep on keeping on in the playoffs, Mascenic will have to avoid the uninspired play that found them midseason, when they dropped three out of four games, with losses to Pelham, Campbell and WLC.
The biggest story this year has been the stellar pitching of Maddie Labrie, who eclipsed 100 strikeouts for the season a month ago and keeps piling them up (18 against Monadnock, 17 against Conant). Anything appears to be possible with her on the mound.
At the plate, she’s shown a penchant for clutch hitting, but she has plenty of help from senior Casey Wayrynen, along with Jordyn Babin, Raven Comtois, Sam Bilodeau and Melonie Ojala. If any of those girls find their stroke in the postseason and a few of the supporting cast jump in, Mascenic might have what it takes for a deep run.
The Vikings host No. 13 Gilford, who finished at 9-7 against a relatively weak schedule. The game is Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Cougars finished right in the middle of Division III this season at 9-5, but when you play in a 16-team league, that’s only good enough for the final playoff spot. That’s bad news for ConVal, who made hay against the lesser teams this season but struggled at times against the better ones (of the Cougars’ nine wins, only one came against a playoff team — an 11-4 win over No. 7 Plymouth).
ConVal will travel to No. 1 Laconia Thursday at 7 p.m. The undefeated Sachems beat ConVal 13-5 back on May 20.