For 15 grueling innings, the Pinkerton Academy and Londonderry High softball teams battled in a Class L State quarterfinal.
Hits were hard to come by and runs were nonexistent as pitching dominated the latest edition of the Astros-Lancers border war.
Finally, in the bottom of the 16th inning, it came to an end, as Pinkerton pitcher Cara Chooljian issued a two-out walk to Samantha Nitso with the bases loaded to force home the game-winning run.
The ending, unfortunately, did not do justice to one of the best high school softball games played in the Granite State in the last 20 years.
Chooljian's effort was nothing short of heroic. She threw roughly 240 pitches over three gut-wrenching hours. She allowed just five hits and struck out 15 before finally running out of gas in the 16th.
Londonderry countered with the tag-team of senior Erica Boehm, who threw the first six-plus innings, and sophomore Theresa Zwart, who threw the final 10. They scattered 11 hits and came up with the big pitch every time they needed it.
But the pitchers weren't the only heroes of the game. Third baseman Nitso and center fielder Kelly Hunt played outstanding defense, while right fielder Nicole Cuerdon (with two sensational running catches) and first baseman Allie Priest anchored the Pinkerton defense and kept the game scoreless.
In a state tournament, every team but one will end its season with a disappointing loss. But when the dust clears on the 2009 high school softball season, the players and coaches from Pinkerton and Londonderry can look back on this game with pride.
Just the beginning
Voters in Derry made a statement Tuesday with their vote to establish a new charter commission. The result was significant, not just because the ballot question passed, but because 1,330 people cared enough about the issue to go to the polls on a rainy day and cast their ballot.
By contrast, just over 1,800 people voted in the March municipal election, with a full slate of contested races.
The Association of Derry Taxpayers is declaring victory in the election and has proclaimed that reform has begun in Derry. This isn't just putting the cart before the horse, it's putting the cart in a different zip code.
A special election will be held in August to determine the nine members of the new charter commission. Derry voters will be charged with the task of picking nine individuals committed to sincerely participating in a process designed to make Derry town government function better and more efficiently. To reach the best recommendations, the commission should represent a cross-section of the community both politically and socio-economically.
Once seated, the commission faces the daunting task of examining the charter and drafting recommendations for revisions. It is expected that the key question raised will be whether Derry, with a population well over 30,000 should be a city, rather than a town. This issue will require months of research, informed testimony and debate before the commission makes a recommendation.
Government reform has not begun in Derry ... yet.
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