Wilton-Lyndeborough’s girls’ tennis team is down to the bare minimum this spring. With just four student-athletes playing, the Warriors would need their girls to win literally every singles and doubles matchup they play in order to win a match. But coach Fran Bujak isn’t putting that type of pressure on his young team, which doesn’t have a single senior and is merely competing to have fun and improve.
“It’s a good group of girls that we have that are just trying to get better,” Bujak said after Tuesday’s match at Conant. “They enjoy playing tennis, they enjoy playing with each other, as you can see watching here, you know? I don’t think any of us are here to try and win a state championship. They’re just trying to get better and they have been.”
The Warriors and Orioles faced off for the second time this season on Tuesday, albeit with slightly different matchups than in Conant’s 9-0 win back on April 13. Conant head coach Gloria Morison rearranged her lineup to make sure her three seniors – Sarah Smith, Abby Wheeler and Erin Weidner – would play in their final regular-season home match.
Smith moved up to No. 1, where she played a spirited contest against WLC’s Elisabeth Jacob, winning 8-2.
Wheeler and Erin MacDonald squared off at No. 2, where the Conant senior took care of business promptly for an 8-1 win.
At No. 3, junior Emily Muilenberg was able to make short work of Madeline Straw, winning 8-0 in the blink of an eye.
With 1-3 concluded, the teams gathered to watch a marathon match at No. 4 singles, where Weidner and Senja Sours battled for over an hour, looping returns high into the sunny skies as they put together lengthy volleys before Weidner eventually outlasted Sours, 8-4.
“That’s the first time [Sours has] ever played a match has gone over an hour,” Bujak said, “so that was quite an accomplishment.”
Conant won both the doubles matchups as well and took three defaults to win 9-0.
Now, both teams await the NHIAA’s random draw to determine seeding for the Division III tournament, set to start on Wednesday, May 26.
A guaranteed postseason spot is a real boon for the winless Warriors, who will add NHIAA tournament experience to their trial-by-fire 2021 resume and likely return the whole roster in 2022.
“The chance of actually trying to win into a tournament would be really, really hard,” Bujak said, “especially with the competition down here at this part of Division III. So it’s going to be an absolute, great opportunity for them to just actually be in the tournament. And at that point it’s going to be, let’s try and win some points, win enough points to win a few games, and if you can kind of know who you’re paired up with, maybe you can do even better than that, and we can string some games together and actually win one or two matches.”
Conant, meanwhile, still looks like a strong contender in Division III, pending the NHIAA’s bracket release, which is likely to come later this week. The Orioles are still just two years removed from their last finals appearance in 2018. Jody Baker, who founded the Orioles’ girls’ tennis program and coached them to four state title appearances and one championship before retiring before this season, paid a visit to Tuesday’s game, where she was honored with a plaque and flowers for her service.
The Orioles also honored Weidner, Wheeler and Smith with flowers and an on-court ceremony followed by a pizza party.
Milford 1, ConVal 0
ConVal allowed just one run on an error Monday afternoon, but it was enough for the Spartans to grab victory by a slim margin.
The Cougars drummed up just two hits from Samantha Henderson and Mackenzie Gauthier, and were shut out while leaving five runners stranded.
Lily Mandel threw a complete game, allowing just three hits.
Morgan Bemont had another great game behind the plate, head coach Amanda Hinton said.
ConVal (4-4) is at Manchester West Wednesday and hosts them Friday for Senior Night.
Mascenic 7, Keene 0
The Vikings blew out Keene’s JV team Monday, with a five-run fifth inning opening things up for a Mascenic win.
Lyla Buxton, back from injured reserve, stepped onto the mound and threw a complete-game one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
Leah St. John (1-3, 2 RBI), Katalina Davis (1-3), Ella Pearson (1-3), Kenzie Cormier (2-3, 3B) and Xaria Talbot drove in runs for Mascenic.
Mascenic (9-1) is scheduled to host Monadnock Thursday.
ConVal 16, Milford 7
Madelynne Plourde lead ConVal with five goals in their win over Milford Monday.
Julia Donovan added another four goals and Ella Dishong had three.
Sarah Holdredge had nine saves in net and did a great job clearing, head coach Derek Sorbello said, and Perrine Holmberg and Eliza Harris played well to lead the defense.
ConVal (4-4) hosts Milford Friday.
Milford 8, ConVal 0
Damian Philbrick no-hit the Cougars Monday and had a perfect game going into the sixth inning before hitting Brady Carpentiere to end that bid.
“We had no life in the dugout the whole game, nor on the field,” head coach Matt Harris said.
ConVal (1-7) hosts Manchester West Wednesday and plays at West Friday.
WLC 13, Hinsdale 9
The Warriors went down 4-0 in the first inning, but got it all back and then some, as Joe Krug’s big hit with two outs in the bottom of the first sparked an eight-run inning and an eventual WLC win.
Alex Balusek had two hits and drove in three runs for the Warriors.
Troy Brennan threw a complete game and struck out 13 Pacers.
WLC (2-5) is at Hinsdale Friday.
Mascenic 3, Keene 0
Mascenic faced Division I Keene’s reserve team on Monday and won thanks to a shutout from pitcher Hayes Pearson, who struck out seven while allowing three hits and a walk.
Sean Agonis and Ethan McGovern drove in runs for the Vikings.
Mascenic (7-2) is scheduled to host Monadnock Thursday.
Conant 11, Souhegan 0
Freshman Jordan Ketola threw a complete game two-hit shutout against Division II Souhegan’s JV team Tuesday as the Orioles cruised to an easy victory.
Ketola fanned 10 over six innings and walked one.
Colso n Seppala (3-4, 2 RBI, 2B), Malique Motuzas (1-1, 2 RBI, 2B), Grant Ketola (1-2, 2 RBI) Josh DiPasquale, Griffin Labonte and Chris Bergeron drove in runs for Conant.
The Orioles (3-6) are at Keene Friday.