The Orioles got a look at what it takes to be the best in Division III last week, as undefeated No. 1 Prospect Mountain came to town and snapped Conant’s 10-game win streak. And while the 6-1 Timberwolf victory meant Conant coach Wiley Billings had to shave his win-streak beard, the way it happened meant the Orioles have a chance in this week’s NHIAA tournament.
“We can play with anybody,” Billings said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
Indeed, Conant was up 1-0 for the better part of the game after All-State senior catcher Tessa Spingola reached on a error and scored on another in the first inning. With sophomore hurler and DIII Pitcher of the Year Gabriella Bernier on the mound for Prospect and Graecen Kirby toeing the rubber for Conant, one run looked like it could be plenty.
“That’s the best pitcher we’ll face,” Billings said.
But Prospect Mountain was undefeated for a reason. Kirby kept the T-Wolves hitless through four innings before the visitors broke through in the fifth on a walk, a sacrifice and an RBI single. Bernier, though, kept Conant hitless into the sixth, when Heather Gonyea reached on an error that got her to second base with no outs; Bernier induced two outs before First Team All-State shortstop Teagan Kirby singled, but Gonyea couldn’t score from second and Bernier struck out Graecen Kirby to end the threat.
The score was tied heading into the seventh inning, but Prospect Mountain was up in the dugout hooting and hollering while Conant was tightening up, and the momentum was palpable. Sure enough, the Timberwolves batted around, scoring five runs on three hits, three walks and two errors, and it was all over.
While it was a disappointing loss, the Orioles showed they were one of the few teams that could hang with Prospect Mountain, who’d only given up runs in six of their 16 games and went undefeated by outscoring opponents 206-13, averaging almost 13 runs per game while allowing less than one. And, aside from one bad inning, Graecen Kirby (4 H, 3 ER, 7 K, 5 BB) was excellent, striking out senior catcher and Division III Player of the Year Mackenzie Renner (0-4) twice.
Conant finishes the regular season at 12-4, their best finish since 2017, when they advanced all the way to the final four before losing to eventual champion White Mountains. That year, the Orioles were the fourth seed; Conant’s loss to Prospect drops them down to at best the sixth seed, as they are in a three-way tie with St. Thomas Aquinas and Hopkinton. Conant will host either Berlin, White Mountains or Gilford on Wednesday to open the playoffs.
The Mascenic softballers got to take in that Conant/Prospect showdown in person after making quick work of Hillsboro-Deering in an early afternoon 13-1 win.
Lexis Vautour, Katalina Davis (2-4, 3B), Ella Pearson (3-4), Delaney Traffie, Val Stenerson, Bella Knisley (3-3) and Lyla Buxton (3B) had hits for Mascenic.
The Vikings finish at 6-8, surprisingly under .500 for the first time in head coach Dutch Stauffeneker’s career, but ready to play spoiler in the DIII tourney. Mascenic looks to be the 14th seed and should travel to No. 3 Newfound (13-3) Wednesday.
ConVal finished out their season with a 9-2 road loss at Milford but still managed to record a 10-6 record, good enough for eighth in Division II. Kendall Sullivan’s two-run single in the fourth accounted for all the scoring at Milford; ConVal made seven defensive errors behind Sullivan and Lily Mandel’s pitching.
The Cougars are expected to host No. 9 Bow to open the playoffs Wednesday. ConVal beat Bow 2-0 in Peterborough on May 5.
The Wilton-Lyndeborough girls finished one spot out of the DIV playoffs, with their 4-13 record placing them in 15th. The Warriors did manage an All-State Second Team selection for junior catcher Abby Dowling.