WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — In the first night game under the newly installed lights at Maxfield Sports Complex, the Hartford High softball team came up short against Otter Valley on Tuesday, 14-9.
Otter Valley (1-2) opened a comfortable lead with a five-run second inning and led 10-3 after the top half of the fourth inning. But the Otters had to stave off resilient Hartford (0-2) the rest of the game, starting with a four-run fourth.
Otter Valley led, 11-9, entering the final frame, and the Otters scored three in the seventh inning to provide breathing room to close out the victory. Two of those runs scored via a double by senior Josie Cone.
Otters head coach Kelly Trayah was pleased with the way his team battled.
“We’re a young team, still growing and trying to tighten up the small things, but I think they did a good job of pulling it together,” Trayah said. “Our young pitcher (sophomore Mackenzie McKay), I thought she battled hard. When it counted there at the end, she did a good job and got the strikes, even when she was down 3-0 and 3-1. I think those are the key things.”
McKay pitched all seven innings for the Otters, collecting three strikeouts while giving up four earned runs on nine hits and nine walks.
The Hurricanes anticipated this game — their first at home — for the “under the lights” atmosphere. With the later start time, there was a large contingent of parents, families and fans in attendance.
Hartford head coach Danielle Tenney said they hadn’t practiced under the lights at all — they turned them on for a few minutes at the end of Monday’s practice, and the team got excited just by that.
She said the atmosphere created a lot of pregame nerves for the Hurricanes.
“The girls were freaking out about (playing) under the lights,” Tenney said. “And also, we had no idea if any fans were going to show up. And we had no idea if we were going to make it to the seventh inning. So it was pretty much a whirlwind experience for us.”
Tenney said the Canes lean on each other in the dugout to calm their nerves, and that she emphasizes good breathing and keeping themselves in check when they get hyped up.
In all, Tenney liked what she saw from her team Tuesday. Once the nerves subsided and the Hurricanes settled into the game, Tenney said she saw a lot of progress from their first game.
“We went from playing Springfield (last Friday) and our pitchers struggled to throw strikes, to our pitchers having a solid game today, our hitters having a solid game,” Tenney said. “So we’re happy about the game. We thought we were a competitive team, even though we got the loss today.”
Hartford freshman Logan Evans went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Senior Alecia Thompson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored. Junior Cassidy Beisler finished 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Cone put up a 3-for-4 night with a double, a walk and four RBIs. Senior Mia Politano finished doubled, walked three times and scored five runs.
Both teams had various miscues and errors throughout the game — Hartford finished with three and Otter Valley had four. The Otters committed the costliest error of the game, a misthrow with two outs in the fourth inning that allowed two runs to score and the inning to continue (when another run scored). That play gave Hartford momentum going into the late innings.
But the Otters didn’t let the mistake cost them the win. Trayah chalked that up to his team’s resilience.
“You gotta go to a next pitch, next play. We always say that,” Trayah said. “We’ll hear our assistant coach (Jodie Keith) saying, ‘Next pitch.’ Because when she played for me, that was the thing. Once that’s done, it’s done. Nothing you can do about it. Just go to the next play. So I thought they did a pretty good job of doing that.”
Both teams are back in action on Thursday. Hartford will host Fair Haven, while Otter Valley faces Springfield on the road.
Seth Tow can be contacted at stow@vnews.com