Concord High wasted no time setting the tone in its D-I softball season opener at Memorial Field on Monday. Ahead 5-0 after the first inning, the Crimson Tide (1-0) cruised to a 12-3 victory over Windham.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Concord’s bats will be a force to watch all season: Head coach Duke Sawyer knew coming into Monday that he could count on his offense, and the Tide proved his confidence warranted. Junior catcher Delaney Duford led off the bottom of the first with a single. Then sophomore Andie Moreira singled, senior Kennedy Craigue walked and senior Sarah Taylor punched a single to right field to open up a 2-0 lead.
Concord scored three more runs that inning and 12 for the game. Moreira led the way, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Taylor went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
“Good start, obviously,” Sawyer said. “Calms everybody down. Calms us down. Coaches, too. Good start to the year. Happy to see the bats come out like they did.”
Though the Tide were helped some by the Jaguars’ lackluster defense, it also strung together consistently hard contact and grinded out at bats. Concord scored runs in four of its six innings at the plate.
The early outburst also allowed Taylor, the Tide’s starting pitcher, to relax in the circle.
“It was really helpful,” she said. “It’s always nice going out there with some cushion behind you.”
Taylor’s riseball baffles Windham: From the first inning, Taylor was quite strong in the circle for Concord. She pitched all seven innings, allowed seven hits, three runs (two earned) and struck out 13. She allowed two of the three runs in the latter two innings, admittedly running into some fatigue in her first start of the year.
“I ran out of gas just a little bit,” she said. “But I’ll get back to it. I don’t usually pitch seven innings, so it’s a lot.”
Sawyer may have pushed her deeper than she expected, but Taylor gave her team some length and saved some arms for games later in the week.
“It was a gutsy performance,” Sawyer said. “First time this year, I thought she got a little tired at the end. I’m sure her legs were a little tired out there. It was a gutsy performance to pitch the whole game like that. I thought she did a great job out there.”
Taylor credited her riseball and changeup for producing so many swings and misses. The combination consistently kept the Jaguars’ hitters off balance.
The defense needs work: Sawyer anticipated defense would be the team’s biggest area for improvement entering the season, and there were spurts on Monday that confirmed those concerns.
A few misplayed balls and mental mistakes allowed Windham (0-1) to generate some offense later in the game. Monday was the first time the Tide had a chance to play at Memorial Field this season, and that rust showed. With warmer weather in the forecast for the near future, Concord will have the chance to finally get some reps outside.
In a nine-run win, it might be easy to overlook the defensive lapses. But for a team with championship aspirations, no stone can be left unturned.
“We can work on those things in practice,” Sawyer said. “We’ll finally be out on a field (Tuesday) to practice. Those are things we’ll work on.”
Concord continues Division I play on Wednesday on the road against Alvirne and at home against Bedford on Friday.