Alvirne shuts out Concord to win D1 softball title

MANCHESTER – The whole town of Hudson wasn’t at Southern New Hampshire University for Tuesday’s Division I softball championship.

It only seemed that way.

The Alvirne High School fans made their presence known throughout the Broncos’ 6-0 win over Concord, and afterward, they and the players and coaches lingered around the field, savoring the school’s first softball championship.

“This is huge because Alvirne’s sports never win anything,” senior shortstop Katie Donovan said. “To finally win something is great. It will last a long time.”

It’s the school’s first title since 1998, when the girls tennis team took home a Class L title.

“What a great win for the town of Hudson and the school,” Alvirne coach Denise Rioux said. “It’s been a long time since they’ve won a championship in a sport. It’s a great feeling.”

Taylor Carbone led the way for the No. 2 Broncos (20-3), pitching seven innings and striking out seven while giving up seven hits and a walk. The junior also went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and drove in three runs on a triple in the sixth inning, giving Alvirne some breathing room in the final frame.

And it was needed – No. 4 Concord (17-5) loaded the bases in the seventh on three singles, but Carbone got Lindsey Stevenson to fly out to left to end the game.

“I had to start throwing some other stuff because they were definitely starting to catch on,” Carbone said. “I knew they were going to make the plays behind me.”

It was Carbone who made a big defensive play in the third inning when there was still no score.

The Crimson Tide had runners on first and third with one out when Kelsey Martel, Carbone’s counterpart, came to the plate. Rioux had warned the Broncos that Concord might try a suicide squeeze at some point during the game.

“I told the kids to expect it at least once and we were ready for it,” she said.

Martel put down a bunt that Carbone fielded cleanly and threw home. Concord’s Rachel Robertson broke for home but Alvirne catcher Kaela Craven blocked the plate and made the tag on Robertson. Carbone then struck out Jasmine Morin to end the inning.

“We didn’t get our bunts down, and we hadn’t done that all year,” Concord coach Duke Sawyer said. “Popup bunts like that, there’s no excuse as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know if she had a little rise, but to pop up bunts like that took our game away early on.”

Alvirne took advantage and pushed two runs across in the bottom of the inning. Mikayla Powlowsky drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Brooke Kennedy. Carbone followed with a single, and with Chelsey Drew at the plate, she broke for second.

Concord threw to second and Carbone got in a rundown long enough to score Powlowsky. After Drew flew out to right, Jenna Giannelli brought Carbone home with a single to make it 2-0.

Giannelli added a double in the fifth inning, scoring Carbone again, to put Alvirne up 3-0.

But the Broncos needed a bigger cushion.

Donovan led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and Craven reached on an error before Jess Underwood popped up for the first out. Powlowsky walked to load the bases, but Kennedy struck out for the second out. Carbone came up and crushed a triple, clearing the bases to push the lead to 6-0.

“It felt nice coming off the bat,” Carbone said. “I just wanted to get a base hit and bring a run in. I wasn’t thinking home run, but I wanted to bring a run in at least.”

She did more than that, and gave Alvirne a reason to celebrate.