NEWPORT — Newport High’s dusty softball diamond works as a both a classroom and laboratory for Sam McNeel, the Tigers’ seventh-year coach and/or mad scientist.
Between graduation departures and the loss of last spring’s season to COVID-19, McNeel returned this year knowing his new roster would be heavy on freshmen and sophomores. As he showed in an 18-5 win over Hanover on Wednesday, McNeel makes nearly every opportunity a teaching opportunity.
To first-year Emmah O’Connor on a second-inning bunt attempt: “You’ll never get a bunt if you don’t get the bat head out there.”
To freshman Katie Sharron, standing on second base after a fourth-inning double: “Anytime the catcher bobbles that ball, I want you here (at third base).”
To senior Kelsey Wheeler after a first-inning line out: “Next time, try to avoid their third baseman.”
That remark drew a smile from Wheeler and laughter from fans lining the Newport side of the field. McNeel — who has five starting freshmen, including his battery, on an 11-player roster — takes this coaching thing seriously, mixing insistence with good humor, and the Tigers have a surprising 7-1 record to show for it.
“Most of it is the game speed,” McNeel said. “Many of these players didn’t get the opportunity to play last year, so the speed of the game, we haven’t quite caught up to that yet, especially on the baserunning side of it. … There are a lot of things that (lost) year hurt.”
Newport softball teams usually compete well within NHIAA Division III, but potential has yet to turn into hardware. The Tigers have made only one NHIAA title game in program history, a loss to Littleton in the Class M final 20 years ago. McNeel’s squad of four years back went undefeated until a second-round upset loss.
Still, the Tigers see the potential in front of them. Their relative youth isn’t a concern.
“Most of our team works pretty hard during practice, and as a freshman-sophomore team, I think we do pretty good,” freshman pitcher Tanya Sanchez said. “It’s just talking as a team and working together. I feel like if we didn’t talk as a team and work together, everything would just fall apart.”
A three-decade Comcast lineman, the wiry McNeel sets up shop in the third-base coaching box when Newport bats, and the instructions rarely stop. If he isn’t advising a batter to keep her weight back and be patient against a slow delivery, he’s counseling a baserunner to know when to charge off the base and when to hold back.
“I love Sam; he can be hard sometimes, but I feel that makes you put in more effort during practice and during games,” Sanchez said. “If we didn’t have him as a hard coach, we really wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now.”
Newport’s success starts with Sanchez and O’Connor, the catcher with whom Sanchez plays in Concord on an elite summer travel team. The Tigers also benefit from a youth program that churns out talent at a level that has McNeel buzzing about the Tigers’ future.
Newport will play small ball, but the likes of Sharron, Wheeler, senior Shelby Adams and sophomore Maddy Norris can hit for power. What the Tigers don’t know yet in this strange season is how they truly fare in D-III, as localized scheduling prevents encounters with the state’s tougher programs.
McNeel admitted he used Wednesday to shuffle players into unfamiliar positions, something easier to do in an open-tournament season. With five games — including two against a good Sunapee team — remaining, the Tigers’ coach doesn’t want his squad to think too far down the road.
“We know we need to make the plays out there; we know we need to hit the ball,” he explained. “I’d like to see us execute a little better, let the speed of the game come to us, and I think we’ll be fine.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.