By Jim Lockwood
Staff Writer

When Hooksett Little League's all-star softball team arrived at Griffin Park's Field A in Windham last week, it met two potential obstacles.

Hooksett left fielder Rachel Frawley scoops up a Windham base hit and quickly sends the ball back to the infield. The locals, after slugging their way to a pair of New Hampshire Little League Softball Tournament victories, dropped a tough decision in the winner's bracket final against Windham, 10-0. (Jim Lockwood Photo)

The first obstacle was a grass infield - Hooksett was accustomed to competing on a dirt surface. The second was faster pitching.

Grass infields are well within the rules of softball. Likewise, the diamond might be the only place where it's not against the law to be speedy.

Ultimately, both the unfamiliar surface and velocity of pitches were too much for Hooksett to overcome on Tuesday, July 12.

The locals lost, 10-0, in the New Hampshire Little League Softball Tournament, striking out seven times while recording just one hit on Jayne Kelly's fourth-inning infield single.

The setback was Hooksett's first of the 2005 summer tournament and sent the girls to the losers' bracket, where they were scheduled to host Salem South on Tuesday, July 19.

Hooksett defeated South in its tourney opener, 13-12.

Leading up to the winners. bracket contest with Windham, Hooksett was hoping to practice on one of the town's Little League baseball fields to become familiar with fielding ground balls on grass. However, scheduling conflicts made that difficult to do.

But the squad was certain it needed to work on facing faster pitching. Entering the game against Windham, the fastest hurler Hooksett's hitters saw was their teammate Deven McKiernan.

Following Hooksett's first tournament loss, head coach Ken McKiernan said he stepped onto the Little League softball diamond and threw faster pitches from 20 feet away instead of the regulation distance of 40 feet.

The coach said he was pleased with every hitter's effort to shorten her swing to make contact against speedier offerings.

"I wanted them to see that when they put the bat on the ball it goes a long way," said McKiernan.

While Hooksett won its first two games prior to meeting Windham, the team noticed a common theme in all three of its contests: Falling behind the competition early.

Against Laconia on July 7, Hooksett gave up 10 early runs, but came back to win, 18-15.

Against Windham, Hooksett surrendered six first-inning runs on four hits and three errors. "When the ball comes to us, sometimes we don't know what to do," Kelly said. "Sometimes in the first inning we're not as aggressive as in the following innings."

Normally, if his team wins the coin toss that determines the home and visiting teams, McKiernan said he chooses to have his take the field first as the host.

After the game against Windham, the head coach said it might've been worthwhile to let his girls play the role of visitors. Doing that, he added, would've allowed them to take their swings at the dish first and erase those pre-game jitters.

Making the necessary adjustments are critical to success in softball, McKiernan said. And according to the head coach, regardless of the final scores on the field, he knows the improvements his players have made in '05 are by far the biggest win.

Windham 10 - Hooksett 0
In Hooksett's loss at Windham, Katie Philbrick had two free passes, Krista Palmer walked once and Jayne Kelly singled. On the mound, Deven McKiernan gave up 10 runs on eight hits and four walks with one strikeout. On defense, Philbrick assisted on four outs from shortstop. Taylor Frazier had three assists from third base. Kelly collected nine outs. McKiernan combined with Ariel Wilson at the plate to prevent a run from scoring.