LEBANON — Wherever they go, the Mascoma High softball team always brings the noise.
Bryanna Thurston, the Royals’ freshman manager, handles a portable stereo. Every player gets walk-up music. A lengthy at-bat might bring a quick blast of Stayin’ Alive. A well-struck base hit and suddenly Billy Squier’s all about The Stroke.
When it’s all going well — as it did in Tuesday’s NHIAA Division II playoff game with Lebanon — that’s when the barking starts.
“It picks up the morale, and the kids, it gives them momentum,” Mascoma coach Chris Thurston, the DJ’s dad, said after the Royals’ 20-11 win at Lebanon High. “I’ve seen it; between the songs and the barking and the cheering, the louder they get, the better they become on the bases and everything. It pumps them up. It’s good to see.
“We just keep telling them, ‘Make sure you guys keep doing what you’re doing, picking everybody up. Especially yourselves, when you’re out there. If you have to bark at yourself, bark at yourself.’ ”
The Royals’ bats did much of the talking in between the yips and yowls. Mascoma (7-6) rapped 12 hits against two Lebanon pitchers, taking control of the contest for good with a five-hit, five-run fifth inning.
McKenzie DeAmicis led the hit parade for the Royals, reaching base in five of her six trips to the plate. The junior singled twice, tripled, drove in five runs and scored three times.
“The girls gave everything they had,” Lebanon coach Ray Petterson said. “Things are going to happen. Errors are going to occur. And that’s where other teams capitalize.”
The clamor usually begins inside the Mascoma dugout.
As is increasingly common at various levels of softball, the Royals rarely pause for breath as they cheer each other on. As it did on Tuesday, the noise from the cinder-block bunker can encourage Mascoma’s fans to join in the cacophony.
The tunes? That’s a new addition.
“They decided they wanted to have some walk-up songs so that it would actually get them pumped up for when they’re getting ready to bat,” Thurston said. “When we go in and do our infield, we have one song — it didn’t play right today — and if we do infield correctly, we can actually do the whole infield to that song.”
The Royals had things spinning their way early. Mara Isham plated Brianna Withington with a first-inning RBI single.
A Lebanon passed ball and wild pitch brought in two more in the second. RBI singles from DeAmicis and Audrey May (2-for-4, two runs) made it 6-0 in the third.
True to their improving form, the Raiders (4-10) scratched back. Lebanon closed to 6-2 thanks to two Mascoma errors in the home third. DeAmicis blasted a two-run triple to the center-field fence, scoring on an errant relay throw for a 9-2 lead in the fourth, but Lebanon plated four in their opportunity, half of them on a two-run single from Ashlee Blashock (3-for-5, four RBIs) to stay within 9-6.
“The girls did a phenomenal job,” Petterson said.
Mascoma gave itself plenty to shout about in its big fifth inning.
The Royals greeted Lebanon pitcher Yasmine Lambert, taking over for starter Kaitlyn Eylander, with five hits from its first six batters of the frame. Tatum Schmidt (two runs), Isham (two hits, four runs), DeAmicis and May all drove had RBIs, with the latter’s two-run single down the third-base line the capper.
Relieving Mascoma starter DeAmicis, Isham pitched the final 3⅔ innings for the victory. The senior struck out nine and — with help from a brief Thurston conference — put down a late Lebanon insurrection in the seventh with her final K of the day.
Isham opened the season as the Royals’ only experienced arm. Thurston has worked DeAmicis and Morgan Towne into reliable options, but it’s helpful to know the senior is available on a day when she doesn’t get the start.
“It’s phenomenal,” Thurston said. “Being a senior, she’s generally there. … We try to let them rest in between games. Coming into playing Lebanon, we wanted to make sure she was ready to go before we actually put her in.”
Even without a soundtrack of his own, Petterson sees where his Raiders have tuned up. They broke a 44-game losing streak earlier in the season, they finally have their own on-campus diamond and the combination of the two is giving Lebanon newfound confidence.
“They gained momentum as they went, and they worked hard every step of the way,” Petterson said. “The girls just took off with it.”
The NHIAA’s luck-of-the-draw open tournament has presented Mascoma with an opportunity. They’ll visit winless Fall Mountain for a second-round game on Wednesday, having outscored the Wildcats, 37-12, in two regular-season encounters. A possible quarterfinal date with rival Newport could arrive on Saturday.
Whoever ends up meeting the Royals, they’ll know they’re coming from a mile away — if they keep their ears peeled.
Fungoes: The Raiders graduate Eylander, Cassady Coates, Autumn Crowell, Jacklyn King and Jacqueline Fredette.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.