Portsmouth Majors softball All-Stars win District 2 title

Advances to state tourney after beating Newport

By Jim McGaw
Posted 7/7/17

PORTSMOUTH — Members of the Portsmouth Little League Majors All-Star softball team had to do it the hard way, but in the end they made things look easy.

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Portsmouth Majors softball All-Stars win District 2 title

Advances to state tourney after beating Newport

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Members of the Portsmouth Little League Majors All-Star softball team had to do it the hard way, but in the end they made things look easy.

The team of 10- to 12-year-olds won the District 2 championship Thursday night after whipping Newport in the second mercy rule-shortened game in as many nights.

Portsmouth beat Newport on the road Wednesday, 20-2, before capturing the D-2 crown Thursday night at Glen Park by a score of 14-4. Both games were shortened to four innings.

Portsmouth now advances to the state tournament, which starts the week of July 16.

Portsmouth had to beat Newport twice because it fell into the losers’ bracket of the tournament right away by losing its first game to Middletown, 10-9.

“This group of girls never really played together. There was a real mixture,” head coach Keith MacDonald said after the game.

In fact, this was the first year that 10-year-olds could join the older girls on the Majors All-Star team. Portsmouth wasted no time in tapping into the younger talent.

“Maggie Lauder, our pitcher, is actually a 10-year-old,” Mr. MacDonald said. “We didn’t have anyone who could really pitch, so we went with this girl Maggie — a tiny thing. But you know what she does? She throws strikes. My motto with her is, ‘Keep chucking.’ She doesn’t get deterred by all the chanting and it calms everyone else down.”

The lopsided scores Wednesday and Thursday could partly be attributed to Newport being down a key player, Mr. MacDonald said.

“In all fairness to them, Newport was missing their No. 1 pitcher. She had other obligations the last two nights,” he said.

No pressure

Still, he praised his players for not feeling the pressure after losing their first game.

“We played Riverside and beat them 11-0 in the second game,” he said. “We were down 12-4 to Tiverton in the third game and came back and won it in the bottom of the sixth inning. It’s just a testament to the way they know how to play.”

The clinching game Thursday night ended after Portsmouth’s catcher, 12-year-old Olivia MacDonald — the coach’s daughter — caught a Newport player hung up between third base and home.

“That was a hustle play; she wasn’t going to give it up. She’s a brick wall; she doesn’t let anyone by,” Mr. MacDonald said. 

On Wednesday night, Olivia went 4-4 with three singles and a double. On Thursday, she put Portsmouth on the board first by stroking a double in the bottom of the first with two runners on.

Good sports

Newport accepted defeat with grace. After the game, the team presented the Portsmouth players with a batch of cookies before wishing them luck in the state tourney. 

Portsmouth Little League

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