For Bill Clary and the Belmont High School softball team, the upcoming season is less about heightened expectations and more about a natural progression. It’s not to say the thrill of doing well has worn off, it’s just that the head coach and this group of mostly varsity-hardened players have grown accustomed to impressive regular-season records.
“I’m not going to look at our regular season as strongly as I did before,” said Clary, whose team finished 13-5 last year and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion White Mountains. “Two years ago when we beat Franklin, that was the first time for us in 20-plus years. Last year we beat Gilford twice. That was the first time in 20-plus years of beating them twice in the same season. Those were milestones for us. Those milestones are gone now and the next milestone for us is to go further in the playoffs.”
To do so, the Raiders will have to find a way to replicate the sort of production they received from last year’s ace, Megan Prescott, who was in the circle any time Belmont took the field, took the pressure off a defense with her ability to rack up strikeouts and was named to the Division III Second Team. Second-year players Lizzy Fleming and Julianna Estremera won’t be asked to fill Prescott’s shoes, but they will be counted on as the team’s top hurlers.
Behind a balanced lineup that boasts both power and speed, and a defense that Clary hopes his young pitchers can use as a safety blanket, the optimism is high in Belmont.
“We have 13 girls on varsity, in the big scheme of things, it’s a good number to have. Everybody knows their role,” Clary said. “We’re a little light on pitching, two sophomores will get most of the innings in the pitching circle, but other than that everyone has varsity experience … We’re very strong defensively and I see our batting order one through nine being strong as well.”
Estremera is a natural shortstop who saw plenty of playing time but just a few innings in the circle last season. Along with setting the table at the top of the lineup, she will also be asked to contribute more to the pitching side this year along with Fleming, who is also a returning starting outfielder. The team will look to that tandem to provide the same punch as Prescott, just in a different way.
“Anytime you lose an all-star player like Megan, it’s difficult to replace her, but we’re not going to replace her, we’re just going to do it a little differently,” Clary said. “We’re going to have a couple of sophomores, not worry about trying to trick anybody. We’re not going to throw the ball past anybody. We want them to put the ball in play and defensively we’ll make the plays behind them.”
On offense, Belmont returns eight batters from a lineup that averaged 8.1 runs per game last year. Taylor Lavallee, a 2016 First Team D-III selection, headlines the outfield with Fleming, Mackenzie Dononvan, Margaret Witham and Chantel Martin all expected to contribute. Freshman Paige Irving and sophomore Paige Dillion also add to the outfield depth in their first season.
Seniors Nicole Antonucci (third base), Shannon Davies (first base), Maria Watson (utility), and juniors Jordan Lavallee (catcher) and Jordan Sargent (catcher, second base) are expected to make up the infield along with Estremera when she’s not in the circle.
“They kind of surprised a lot of teams last year. We’re not surprising anybody anymore,” Clary said. “Our opponents know our lineup is strong. … There’s nobody that’s an easy out for our team.”
Belmont’s regular season schedule offers plenty of opportunities for the team to sharpen its game. The Raiders open the season on a three-game road swing at Laconia, Berlin and Raymond before the home opener against Lakes Region rival Gilford on April 19. And Belmont will finish its season with two challenges against some of the best D-III has to offer with clashes against defending champion White Mountains on May 19 and Prospect Mountain, last year’s No. 3 seed, in the season finale on May 26.
“The Lakes Region teams are unbelievable,” Clary said. “Gilford is always a strong team in our division. You have that home town rivalry and the kids on both sides of the field play each other hard. They see them so often in all the other sports that it’s a pride thing for all the schools to do well in the Lakes Region.”