Here come the Panthers

By BENJAMIN ROSENBERG

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 05-12-2023 1:58 PM

THETFORD — Michelle Morgan realized this season could be different for the Thetford Academy softball team early on. The second-year head coach’s players are now starting to realize it as well.

With seven sophomores, six of whom played on the varsity team as eighth graders, the Panthers are on a steady march up the VPA Division III rankings. As the No. 13 seed in 2021, Thetford was handed a 15-0 first-round drubbing by BFA-Fairfax. Last year, the Panthers earned the No. 7 seed despite a 5-7 regular-season record, but dropped a one-run contest in their playoff opener at home against Windsor.

This year? Thetford has already matched its 2022 win total, winning five straight after an 0-2 start. The latest victory, a 19-18 thriller over Division II foe Spaulding, saw the Panthers twice rally from seven runs down and plate the winning run on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh.

“As every game goes on, they’re becoming more confident, which is awesome to see,” Morgan said. “To win this one, they were just so excited, and I feel like they will go far in the playoffs as long as they keep playing like they’re doing and mentally stay strong. We have a four-second rule — if they commit an error, count in your head and then you’re done and over with that error and move onto the next one.”

Thetford is in its third season of a co-op team with Rivendell Academy, though Morgan’s daughter, sophomore catcher Eiea Morgan, is the only Rivendell student on the varsity team. The junior varsity, which is back this year as interest in the sport has risen, has four or five girls from Rivendell, Michelle Morgan said.

With all but one starter returning, the Panthers entered this season almost completely set with their positions. The only change was sophomore Ashlyn Osgood moving from left field to center field, with Thetford’s lone freshman, Natalie Perry, taking over in left.

Otherwise, it’s still seniors Taylor West and Madi Mousley at first and third base, respectively, with junior Kelsey Bogie at shortstop. The rest of the lineup is all sophomores — Ashlyn’s twin sister, Rebecca Osgood, at second base, Grace Elmer in right field and Makayla Stanley in the pitcher’s circle. Another sophomore, Paige Tremblay, is also available to pitch.

“We’ve grown a lot as a team from last year, especially those young girls who started out as eighth graders,” Morgan said. “We’ve learned to calm down and stay calm in tough situations. They’re just more mature. They’re thinking better, they know where the plays are, they’re more relaxed out there and they’re hitting the ball phenomenally.”

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Stanley pitched nearly every game last year as a freshman and has built her way up to throwing complete games again this year, working with a coach over the summer to improve her speed. She primarily relies on her fastball and drop ball.

Although the Crimson Tide were hitting Stanley hard Tuesday, her approach never wavered and she continued pounding the strike zone and trusting her defense. Nearly every Spaulding hitter put the ball in play — Stanley allowed 17 hits but issued only three walks and struck out just one — but after giving up 15 runs between the third and fourth innings, Stanley held the visitors to just one unearned run over the final three frames.

“It’s pretty stressful. I’m really anxious about it,” Stanley said of her responsibilities in the circle. “I’ve got to push through it and prove to myself that I can do it, because I’ve done it before and I know I can do it again. I just had to keep my head up, make sure I didn’t get down on myself or let anyone get down on themselves.”

Thetford opened the season with a 13-9 loss to Windsor, the Yellowjackets again getting the better of the Panthers after ending their season last spring. After that came a 21-4 beatdown at the hands of D-IV contender Blue Mountain.

Following that game, Morgan gathered the team and gave them a talk about the importance of not giving up. Thetford hasn’t lost since.

The first three wins in the Panthers’ current streak were blowouts in which they scored at least 20 runs, including an inconceivable 42-1 shellacking of Peoples. The last two have been far tighter — a 6-4 win over D-II member Harwood last Saturday and then Tuesday’s epic against Spaulding.

Every Thetford starter scored at least one run Tuesday. The Panthers took a 3-0 lead after an inning, but after cutting the deficit to one in the second, the Crimson Tide exploded for eight runs in the third to go ahead 10-3. Thetford bounced right back with seven in its half of the third to knot the score at 10, but Spaulding responded with a seven-spot of its own in the fourth.

Undaunted, the Panthers chipped away. A series of bases-loaded walks gave Thetford three runs back in the bottom of the fourth, and sophomore Elizabeth Waterman came through with a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth. The hosts pushed three across with some aggressive baserunning to tie the game in the sixth, and in the seventh, Perry hit a leadoff single to center, moved to second on a groundout and advanced to third and then scored on a pair of wild pitches.

“It gives us so much confidence,” Mousley said. “Last year, we got run-ruled by (Spaulding), so playing them this year and getting the win is a major confidence-booster.”

That confidence, which Morgan said was sometimes lacking last season, will be important to carry the Panthers through their next two games. Two-time defending D-II champion Lyndon visits Thetford on Thursday, and the Panthers travel to Oxbow, the two-time reigning D-III champs, on Saturday.

Those two contests will provide a good measuring stick for how far Thetford has truly come in a year. Morgan has championship aspirations for this team, but with two-thirds of the starting lineup back for two more years, the Panthers should be well-positioned for more deep playoff runs even if they fall short this year.

“That’s a goal for all these girls. They all want to be there,” Morgan said. “If they keep the chemistry up and keep working hard like they have been, I think it’s a very real possibility. These girls have what it takes to go all the way. I’m pretty excited for the program.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.

 CORRECTION: Thetford softball players Grace Elmer and Rebecca Osgood were shown playing with Forest, a goose belonging to Rebecca’s sister Ellea. Elmer was misidentified in a caption accompanying a previous version of this story.

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