Beebe, Exeter softball team beat Winnacunnet in battle of undefeated teams
HAMPTON – Defeating a rival is always nice. Handing your rival its first loss on its home turf makes it even sweeter. The Exeter High School softball team traveled to Hampton on Friday to square off with rival Winnacunnet in a battle of unbeatens in Division I and the Blue Hawks came out on top, 3-1.
“I’m proud of the girls, especially the seniors,” said Exeter coach Kristin Morissette. “Kristen (Beebe) was great, Emma Plourde had a good day. Chloe Brunelle had some big hits for us. Everyone did well today, but I am happy for those seniors getting a win in their last game against Winnacunnet.”
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Exeter (11-0) got a complete-game effort from pitcher Kristen Beebe, who scattered six hits and struck out five, including her 400th career strikeout in the seventh inning. Maddy Eaton was steady in the circle for Winnacunnet (10-1) as well, allowing just two earned runs on nine hits while striking out three.
“This is a strong, resilient team,” said Winnacunnet coach Bill Edwards. “We played a tough game (Wednesday) against Salem, and we played another good team tough here today. I think we're going to be a tough out for every team we play, and I’m proud of these girls.”
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Exeter's Annie Christiana had three hits and scored a run, while Summer LeClerc had one hit, drove in one, and scored two runs, and Emma Plourde had three hits.
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Arden Langmaid led Winnacunnet with three hits, while Halisa Carter doubled and scored Winnacunnet's lone run..
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Beebe reaches milestone in win
KBeebe was in complete control on Friday afternoon. The senior hurler only allowed one runner past second base. In addition to picking up the win against her rival, Beebe also reached the 400-strikeout milestone with her final strikeout of the day in the seventh inning.
“That was pretty special,” said Morissette. “Nobody except the coaches and her parents knew. We didn’t want to tell her because that puts on added pressure, but I am so glad she got it in a win, and in a win against Winnacunnet. That makes it even more special.”
Beebe said she was surprised when the game stopped with one out in the seventh inning and her coaches came out to collect the ball and congratulate her.
“It's so great to reach that number, especially in my senior year,” Beebe said. “It’s a great feeling. I am so grateful to have this experience with a great group of people. It can’t get better than this.”
Beebe said her mindset going into any game, whether it is against a lower seeded team in the division, or their previously undefeated rivals at Winnacunnet, is to maintain her focus.
“I have to have a business-like mentality,” she said. “This was a high-stakes game, but I can’t think about that. I just have to think about the batter in front of me and how to approach them. Winnacunnet is good, and we're thinking about the postseason. We know we'll see them again and have to have the same approach.”
Last undefeated team standing
While Friday’s game was “just a regular-season game,” the Exeter-Winnacunnet rivalry games always matter. But entering the game as the only two undefeated teams in Division I gave it a little more weight than it might normally have – at least from the fan perspective.
Both Morissette and Edwards downplayed the significance of both teams entering the day undefeated.
“You always want to win this one, regardless of the records,” Morissette said. “(Winnacunnet) is a tough team. Them being unbeaten didn’t really make the game more intense. These games are already important, we don’t need extra motivation. We came in and it was all business. We stuck to the game plan and thankfully did enough to win.”
“We knew coming in that Exeter was a top team, but so are we,” Edwards said. “I think that was a 50/50 game for them as well as us. We made a couple mistakes that led to a couple runs, and they made a couple mistakes too, that we weren’t able to capitalize on. That was the only real difference.”
Edwards said he won’t necessarily look to do anything different if they face Exeter in the playoffs.
“You want to win them all,” he said. “But it’s the four games in June that matter most. I wouldn’t do anything different. Changing the approach wouldn’t change the outcome. Beebe is a very good pitcher, but we got a lot of bats on balls today, and got multiple runners on in a handful of innings. We just needed a timely hit or two.”
Christiana’s diving catch saves the day
Winnacunnet’s best opportunity came in the third inning, when Carter reached on a two-base error, and Langmaid followed with a bunt single to put runners on first and second with no outs, trailing 1-0. That brought leadoff hitter Kate Gagne to the plate. Gagne launched a line drive to left-center field that appeared headed into the gap until Christiana laid out and made a spectacular diving catch to rob Gagne of a hit, and the Warriors of at least one run.
“You don’t really think about all those things in the moment,” Christiana said. “I was just trying my best to make the play to help my team. I knew if I missed it Dejah (Rondeau) would be there to back me up. But thankfully I made it, and it ended up saving us a run or two.”
Kristen Bickford made a nice defensive play of her own to get the second out of the inning, tracking a fly ball behind third base for the second out, and Beebe ended the threat with a strikeout to close the inning.
“That was a big play,” Edwards said. “That’s just softball though. Those things happen in a game. It probably cost us a couple runs, but it was good contact against a good pitcher, and she just made a great play. You can’t be upset about that.”
On the heels of her big defensive play, Christiana came up with two outs in the fourth. She hit a single to center field, stole second, and used the same speed to score on a LeClerc single and key the two-run inning that ultimately decided the game.
“Making the defensive play does get you hyped up, and maybe it helped me focus and get that hit,” Christiana said. “I’m just trying to help the team however I can.”
“That play was huge for us,” Beebe said. “It fired us all up. Having this defense behind me makes me so confident – our whole defense, especially (Christiana). Any ball that is hit to the outfield, I know she’s there.’
Bottom of the order shines for Warriors
Both scoring chances for Winnacunnet started with their eighth and ninth hitters, as Carter and Langmaid filled first and second base with no outs in both the third and fifth innings. Although they were only able to muster one run, Edwards said it's never a surprise when he gets offense from throughout his lineup.
“I know you always expect your one through four hitters to do most of the work, but we're tough up and down the lineup,” he said. “Beebe is a good pitcher, but we put a lot of balls in play. We left multiple runners on base, which is disappointing, but you have to get them on to leave them on.”
He added that a couple timely hits could have changed the outcome, but stressed that those timely hits are harder to come by against a talented team like Exeter.
Game of inches
The two-run fourth inning for Exeter that ultimately won the game was close to not happening. Winnacunnet pitcher Maddy Eaton notched two quick outs with a strikeout and a ground out. Christiana followed with a seeing-eye single that snuck between the Warriors middle infielders. LeClerc and Plourde followed with hard hit singles of their own, before Brunelle followed Christiana’s lead with a hit to dead center that once again narrowly averted the gloves of a pair of Winnacunnet defenders.
“That happens,” Edwards said. “Those little things are the difference in a game with two good teams. But that’s why I wouldn’t really change our approach if we see them again. We just needed a couple things to go a little differently. It wasn’t that we necessarily did things wrong.”
Morissette said competitive games like that come down to those little moments within the game, and she was glad that her team was ready and made the important plays against a tough opponent.
“They put pressure on you,” Morissette said. “We did a great job of today of making the plays that counted. Winnacunnet is a very good team, and you have to do the little things right. We did that today.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Beebe, Exeter softball beats rival Winnacunnet in NHIAA Division 1
