WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — On the surface, they’re just lights. They allow sports games to be played after sundown. The structures themselves are nothing special. But what they represent to high school athletes — particularly, those from Hartford High softball — is opportunity.
Night games, though they count the same in the standings as day games, raise the stakes. There’s an added intensity when the sky gets dark and the lights get brighter.
Hartford softball played its first game under the lights at Maxfield Sports Complex Tuesday night, when the Hurricanes lost to Otter Valley, 14-9.
“(Playing under the lights) brings everybody together a little bit more,” Hartford senior catcher and outfielder Nevaeh Murphy said. “You have your fans out there excited to go and watch the game. And you have your team that knows that it’s important, and everyone’s trying to do their best like they always are, but it’s an added level to it.”
The enhanced atmosphere for the contest — a large number of fans attended, larger than Murphy and her teammates were used to — created some pregame nerves. Hurricanes head coach Danielle Tenney called the night a “whirlwind experience.”
For the Hartford athletic program, the new softball lights are a big deal. Many players felt it brings baseball and softball closer to equality, as baseball already had lights under which it could play. And now, Hartford can be an away game to which opponents look forward.
“I think the energy on the field last night (for both teams) was great,” Hartford athletic director Jeff Moreno said on Wednesday. “It was great to see two teams having a great time last night, playing a sport that they love. I’m sure that the Otter Valley girls will look forward to coming to Hartford next year. I think it’s good for our girls, (and) it’s good for the sport in general.”
The athletes aren’t the only ones for whom the lights present an opportunity. They give Tenney a way to make softball attractive to prospective players, parents, fans and the community.
Tenney, a 2013 Stevens High graduate who played Division I college softball at Sacred Heart, said her team has been underdogs for the last few years, and that’s lessened community excitement about it and the sport. She hopes the lights can be a new attraction to the team rather than just something enabling night games.
“(I’m) revamping the program this year,” Tenney said. “(The girls are) excited about learning, they’re excited about the coaching, they’re excited to show the fans that they can play and they want to be taken seriously. So it’s not just about the lights. It’s all of those. Wanting the community to get excited about softball again. (The lights are) just one of those elements.”
She’s already established a plan to parlay the lights into community engagement.
The Hurricanes are hosting a community softball game on May 9, with the Hartford players split evenly between the teams. Youth squads will join the Hurricanes on the field before the game, so those kids can experience the feeling of playing under the lights.
Tenney was hired to coach the Hurricanes heading into the 2020 season, one lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this is her first chance to teach on the field.
Moreno was drawn to her energy and her attitude. He said Hartford was lucky that Tenney was looking for a coaching job when the school had an opening and that she was interested in coming.
“Her energy that she’s put into the program so far, the commitment that she’s shown the girls, her expertise on the sport, and her tenacity and getting where she wants to get to is highly unusual and extremely welcomed,” Moreno said. “She’s not one to sit there and complain about everything that isn’t. She’s one that’s going to put several solutions on your table or in your in-box and make sure that you get there. I just love working with coaches like that.”
Tenney sees potential in her team — she thinks the Hurricanes could hang with any opponent both offensively and defensively. But she knows the roster is young; Hartford has just four upperclassmen compared to seven underclassmen, including six freshmen. Tenney’s hopes for her team this season don’t involve wins or losses.
“My expectation is that we stay in the game all the way until the end, we work hard all the way to the end and never cut yourself short,” Tenney said. “The goal for the season is building up confidence, building up their mechanics and their skills. I have made it clear to the girls that they need to go out there, give 100% effort all the time, even if it means that they fail, because they’re learning something from it.”
If Tenney’s vision lays the groundwork for a successful program, opportunity could be limitless.
Seth Tow can be reached at stow@vnews.com.