Concord High’s softball players had May 17 circled on the schedule from the moment it came out. Home game versus Exeter. A chance to partially erase the sour taste in their mouths after losing to the Blue Hawks twice last year, including in the championship game.
Erase that sour taste they did, with a 4-1 win behind a complete game in the circle from Sarah Taylor, who also had two RBI singles.
It was the first time Exeter lost all season.
“We just know (we can beat them) now,” said head coach Duke Sawyer. “We had a tough time with them last year. Two great games with them last year, but we didn’t beat them, so just to know and to put four runs up against them, too, I think that was huge. And our defense was just fantastic out there.”
The game started a bit shaky for the Tide (14-1). Taylor, who entered Wednesday having walked just six batters in 34 innings, walked the first hitter of the game and allowed her to advance to second on a wild pitch. The sub-45-degree temperatures and brisk wind created quite the challenging conditions for pitching.
Catcher Delaney Duford came out for a quick visit immediately after the leadoff walk.
“It was so cold at first,” Taylor said. “Delaney came out to me, she was like, ‘Put your hand in your armpit. It will warm up.’ ”
Taylor heeded the advice of her battery mate, and it worked.
Exeter stranded a runner at third in the first and runners on first and second in the second before Taylor seemed to settle in. She retired 10 in a row through the middle innings.
“She stuck with it, pitch after pitch,” Sawyer said. “Delaney again called a great game behind the plate, and they just work so well together out there.”
Meanwhile, the offense for Concord started up in the bottom of the third.
Senior Olivia Crawford led off with a walk, Duford bunted her over to second and sophomore Andie Moreira reached on an infield single before Taylor slapped a single to right field to plate the first run. Then in the fifth, Duford led off with a double, Moreira sacrificed her to third and Taylor knocked through another RBI single to make it 2-0.
Three batters later, sophomore Brooke Wyatt stepped to the plate with two runners on and roped a double to left-center field, bringing across two more runs and giving Taylor some more wiggle room to work with in the circle.
Wyatt also made an impressive diving catch at shortstop in the top half of that inning, putting her fingerprints all over the Tide’s win.
“I’m so happy she got that hit,” Taylor said. “She’s a stud, and she showed out tonight.”
Exeter did scratch across a run in the top of the seventh and sent the tying run to the plate against Taylor, but the righty was able to induce line-out to Lily Hackett at second to end the game.
Taylor’s final line: seven innings, five hits, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts.
In a game filled with so much passion and so much energy, Concord came through to make its biggest statement of the 2023 season. The Tide still have a long way to go to reach the ultimate goal of a championship, but Wednesday night’s victory only provides a jolt of confidence.
It could be easy to lose the forest for the trees, though; after all, the Tide had anticipated this matchup with Exeter for a while now, but the team hasn’t lost sight of the fact that this was only one game.
There’s still lots more softball to be played, and the schedule doesn’t get much easier. Concord closes out the regular season against Spaulding (9-4), Pinkerton (10-4) and Salem (11-2).
But for the moment, in the early-March-like cold at Memorial Field on Wednesday night, the Tide could savor the victory. Because as Exeter reminded them twice last year, no win this time of the year comes easily.
“I’m just so proud of this team,” Taylor said. “I think this is going to be a really good confidence boost and push forward for us this season.
“A win like that was special, and celebrating together was special.”