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Hui keeps Panthers in check as ‘Hawks reach softball semis

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Jun 6, 2021

Merrimack's Avery, left, and Lindsey Hui are all smiles after Avery's two-hit shutout beat Nashua South, 4-0, in the Division I softball quarterfinals Saturday in Merrimack. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MERRIMACK – She’s just a freshman, but plays like a senior.

That’s the best way to describe the cool, calm, collective nature of Merrimack High School softball pitcher Avery Hui, who checked Nashua South on two infield hits for a 4-0 shutout Division I quarterfinal win on Saturday.

As a result, the 16-4 Tomahawks will head to Concord on Wednesday to face the Crimson Tide in a 4 p.m. semifinal.

“She gets into a good groove, she stays consistent,” Merrimack coach Greg Cochrane said of Hui, who walked only one and struck out three. “The kid plays much older than she is. The composure’s there already.”

In fact, South, which made huge strides in the past month just to get this far, was held without a hit until Malia Martel beat out an infield grounder to lead off the sixth.

“I trust coach, I trust my defense, I just focus on hitting my spots,” Hui said. “I go pitch to pitch. … At least one more game with my sister.”

That would be ‘Hawks senior third baseman Lindsey Hui, who said watching Avery today “was crazy seeing how much she’s grown.”

South could have used less Hui and more hits. Unfortunately for the Panthers, their ace starter, Natalie Ward, was suffering from the intense heat and had to leave the game after four innings.

“The kid’s a trooper,” South coach Kevin Handy said. “For her to come to me like that, you knew something was up. It was a hot day. But she held them.”

Indeed she did, as Merrimack’s lone run at the time came in the second on a walk to Grace Lawton, single by Ally O’Brien and a throwing error.

But in the fifth, Merrimack’s Erin Knauer lofted a fly ball near the line that Martel – who made a diving catch to save the prelim win over Alvirne, nearly caught. It landed in her glove, but then bounced out when she hit the ground. In the confusion, Knauer raced around the bases and scored an inside the park homer to make it 2-0.

“We’re an aggressive team,” Cochrane said. “We run until we’re stopped. That’s the way we coach it, that’s the way the girls play. We got a lucky break. … umpire was right there to make the proper call and we took advantage.”

“I think that opened it up for them a bit,” Handy said.

And yes, Merrimack picked up another couple in the sixth off reliever Jillian Daley, the key blow a Hannah Stone RBI hit.

Still, who expected the Panthers to be here? Now they know they can be.

“They know they can compete with teams like this,” Handy said. “Going into next year, that’s all the momentum we need.”

The ‘Hawks, though, go into the semis with Avery Hui in the circle. That may be a lot of what they’ll need to get to the finals.

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