Just three days earlier, the Conant softball team had jumped out to an early lead over rival Mascenic and never looked back, beating the Vikings in an eight-run game. But on Friday, Mascenic returned the favor, scoring four runs in the top of the first and cruising to an 8-3 win on Jaffrey’s Community Field.
Credit: BEN CONANT / For the Ledger-Transcript
“We knew that since they won by quite a bit last time, that they might think it’d be an easy game,” Mascenic’s senior second baseman Brielle Krook said after Friday’s contest, “but we knew if we came out hard in the first inning that they’d be rattled, and I think that’s what happened.”
Intermittent rain and wet infield dirt rendered the ball slippery at times, sticky at others, and it seemed to affect Conant starting pitcher Mackenzie MacFarland (CG, 6 ER, 4 K, 10 H) a bit; either way, the Vikings scored four with two outs in the first frame on singles by Krook, Hannah Cargill, Evelyn Shippee and Breanna McCabe.
“We definitely were not hitting well last time,” Krook said. “We just really were in our heads the whole time and not seeing the ball well. But today, we just told ourselves we were going to have fun and just calm down and try to see the ball better, so that’s what we did — and we did a lot better.”
Conant’s one rally in the second cut the deficit in half, as Mascenic starter Hannah Cargill (3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER) walked or hit three straight batters, paving the way for Khloe Kirby to take home on a wild pitch and Elyn Vitello’s RBI single in the same at-bat. But the rally ended on the same play, as Josie Seppala was thrown out at the plate, and Conant would only manage one more run the rest of the way, while Mascenic would add another four.
“We’ve really worked hard on our defense and I think it just wasn’t there today,” Conant head coach Heather Linstad said. “We build our confidence from the start of the game if we’re getting out of innings early, and then it fills our confidence for our offense, which just didn’t happen.”
Krook (2-4, 2 R, RBI), Fiona Alix (2-4, 2B, R), Shippee (2-4, 2 RBI), Payton Lafreniere, Mia Glavey and McCabe all had multi-hit days or drove in runs for the Vikings. Olivia O’Conner (4 IP, 4 H, 0 R) pitched for the save in relief of Cargill.
Autumn Burgoyne and Vitello drove in Conant’s runs, and Merry Hill, Violet Bennett, Ella Derosier and Kirby provided the rest of the Orioles’ hits.
Mascenic (8-3) is now fifth in Division IV, with two losses to Franklin and the one loss to Conant as their only blemishes. The Vikings have Newmarket and Sunapee on the road this week and then wrap up back-to-back at home against Portsmouth Christian and Farmington the following.
The Vikings have gone deep in the playoffs each of the past three years, losing in the finals in 2023 and losing to eventual champions Woodsville in the 2024 semifinals and the 2025 quarterfinals. This year, Woodsville (5-8) is a little down, while Pittsburg-Canaan (10-0), Pittsfield (7-1), Franklin (7-1) and Colebrook (7-2) are the top teams ahead of the Vikings.
“We’re looking to go all the way this year,” Krook said, because we’ve done it before. We’ve made it there, but we haven’t finished it. So that’s our goal this year.”
Conant (4-8) came into the year hoping to host a playoff game and snap their string of first-round exits; now, they have an uphill battle to make the the 14-team Division III postseason at all. They’re currently 15th in the division with games against Raymond (6-2), Prospect Mountain (9-1), Bishop Brady (7-2) and Monadnock (7-4) coming up to finish the season.
“We play a tough schedule if you look at it,” Linstad said. “For DIII, we’ve got all the top teams. But you know what, that’s what makes the season, right? You dig deep and you get those wins that some people just look at records and say, ‘Oh, they are not gonna beat us.’ And so I think we have it. I’m hoping we just sneak up on them and take it away.”