Experienced Seniors Lead Girls to a Winning Season
The Exeter softball team had a winning season in 2014 with a record of 11-7. Of the squad of 17 ballplayers, nearly half of the roster were seniors or postgraduates: Alexandra Betrus, Weilin Chan, Chloe Dubocq, Helen Hultin, Nina Meyers, Hannah Myers, Paola Otero, and Madge Tan. The team will surely miss the eight seniors’ talent and experience when next season comes around. But hopefully Exeter’s head coach was Nancy Thompson and assistant coach Liz Hurley will find younger talent to fill their roles..
Chan, Dubocq, and Myers captained the team this year. Throughout the season they made sure to keep a fun, but winning, attitude among the team. From being called the Thompson family singers to counting how many times they nearly hit their coach in the third base coach’s box, the captains made sure to keep the team loose. “The team really values having fun,” Otero said, who came to the team as a post-grad after spending her previous four years at Governor’s. “Overall it was fun.”
The season began over spring break in Disney World, where Exeter held preseason. Twelve of the seventeen players traveled down there. The team ended up losing all four of their games down there, but the team was still able to come away with some valuable experience by playing with each other and coming closer as a team.
After returning to New Hampshire, the Big Red’s season was delayed by a week as a scrimmage and their regular season opener were both rained out. As a result, the team’s first games were a double header against Nobles. They were the first games Exeter had played outside since Florida, and it showed as the team lost them by a combined 30-9 score. It was the worst day the team would see all season, though, as they quickly rebounded from their early losses.
The next week, the team was able to revive their record to over .500 with three wins in as many days. The winning streak stretched on for three more games, and nearly a month, before the girls dropped a close game to Andover. Andover’s pitcher was the fastest, and best, pitcher the team had seen since Nobles. Despite the loss, the team still felt good about how they played. “The first game against Andover was one of the best games we played even though we lost,” said Gibeley.
The team could not dwell on the loss too long, however, as they had three games later that week. The toughest of those matchups was a double header at home against Tabor. Exeter dropped both games of that meeting with scores of 9-6 and 12-11. The twelve runs allowed were the most since Nobles. Fortunately, these were not the final games the team played before the Big East Tournament as they were able to squeeze in a win against Tilton between the two weekends.
Going into the tournament, the team was neither too high or too low in spirit. “Some [teams] are going to be tough, but we’ve been working hard. We just need to stay focused,” said Gibeley before the tournament. After having lost in 2013, the returners for the team also looked to use the old loss as extra motivation. That might have been key in the first round victory over Worcester: the team that knocked them out the previous year. Big Red won that close game 6-4.
In the next round, the team faced off against Tabor with a trip to the championship game on the line. Unfortunately, Exeter was not able to take home the W, and Tabor came out on top after a 13-5 win, eliminating Exeter from the tournament.
In the next game, the team still may have felt the shock of the loss as they lost at Governor’s, 6-0. That game was the lone time Exeter got shut out all year. It may have also served as an ignitor for their final two games of the season: a double header at Andover.
Going into the games, the outlook did not look too bright for Exeter. They had lost all four of their double header games this year and had already lost to Andover earlier this season at home. History also seemed to be against the Big Red as they had gone 1-14 against Andover in their previous six years, the lone win being a 1-0 win in eight innings. Exeter softball had failed to win an E/a game in over seven years. All of that meant nothing to the team as they won the first game 4-2. They lost to the Big Blue in the second end of the double header, 9-1. The first win was still a huge win for Exeter, as it gave them a good note to end the season on.
Next year, Big Red will come back with nine of their seventeen players, but will lose many of their starters. The returners will need to step up in filling those positions as well as the leadership roles on the team. One big loss for Thompson’s squad will be the workhorse, starting pitcher Dubocq. Looking to fill her shoes her will be, then, upper Gibeley. One of her departing teammates has total faith that she will be able to pick up where Dubocq left off. “[Gibeley] has pitched some this year, and I am confident she will help carry the team next year,” said Otero. Other players expected to play bigger roles are upper Azniv Nalbandian, upper Carly Perreault, and lower Allegra Grant, among others. The recruits coming in are younger, so the team will have to lean even heavier on their veterans than they did this year. With an undefeated JV program this year, there could also be a few players coming up from there that could help the team next season.
Exeter should still be competitive next season. They will look to build upon their success this season, and will hope to get deeper into the playoffs than they have the past few years. Coach Thompson and the gang will be going out for their third straight winning season next spring.