For the first time in several years, Alvirne’s softball team has struggled heavily out of the gate, as they came into the week 0-4 in their first four games before getting three home games against Goffstown, Exeter, and Nashua North. On Monday, they fell 8-2 against Goffstown, Wednesday, it was a rainy 8-0 loss to Exeter, and Friday morning, the Broncos picked up their first win of the season by way of the 16-1 route of Nashua North.
On Monday, the Broncos and Grizzlies entered the second without a score before a little league home run for Goffstown gave them a 2-0 lead and a Kenzy Pooler proper home run brought the Broncos back to within a run at 2-1. Alvirne would then strand Niyah Stroming at second base after a Lexi Testa strikeout.
Goffstown tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to give themselves a 4-1 lead thanks to a one-out RBI single from Sara Roussel and a Kenzy Pooler wild pitch that allowed Roussel’s courtesy runner to score.
Alvirne was able to get a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a passed ball that allowed Alyssa Abbott to score the second and final Bronco run of the contest.
Goffstown tacked on four more in the seventh that deflated the sails of the Broncos and sent them home unhappy with an 8-2 loss.
On Wednesday, the Broncos were put up against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago in the Exeter Blue Hawks. Exeter came in at 4-2 and directly off a 24-11 win against Timberlane that looks more like a football outcome than one from a softball game.
Exeter managed to score their first run in the top of the second inning off Ashleigh Ducharme on a sequence of small-ball by Exeter moving runners up by any means necessary before getting a run just before the final out of the inning was recorded on the rare example of a timing play coming into effect.
The Blue Hawks would get a run in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth, and two in the seventh while holding the Bronco bats silent throughout to pick up their fifth win by a score of 8-0.
On Friday, the Broncos matched up against a Nashua North team that hadn’t won a game since April 19, 2021 against Manchester Memorial. This season, the Titans have been a bit more competitive, having a 7-0 loss being their closest game to this point.
Alvirne, however, had no interest in a close game on Friday morning, as they put up runs in bunches thanks in large part to Alyssa Abbott, who had 7 RBI and four hits, all for extra bases with a homer and three doubles.
Alvirne put up three runs in the first, four in the second, three in the third, and six in the fourth, while North got their lone run in the top of the fourth on an attempted back-pick at first base with the bases loaded that head-up baserunning allowed the run to score.
Coming off the win, Alvirne will play at Windham on Monday, home against Dover on Tuesday, and at Trinity-West on Friday.