Alvirne's Cori Sevigny gets her hand in on the plate just ahead of the tag by Nashua South catcher Maliyah Richer-Valentin during Wednesday's Divison I game at South. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Nashua High School South softball coach Kevin Handy likely looked across the field on Wednesday at the Alvirne Broncos and saw his own team several years ago when he first took over.

“I commend the coaches over there and the leadership over there, it’s not easy,” he said after his Panthers rolled to a 22-2 mercy rule (five innings) win. “I’ve taken a lot of those on the other side, so I know what they’re going through.”

The Panthers aren’t considered a powerhouse by any means, but they are more competitive with a team that two years ago played seven freshmen regularly. Meanwhile, Alvirne coach Becky Radziewicz says she knew this season she’d be going through some growing pains with the program, and in five games the Broncos have been outscored 92-9.

“This year we’re really focusing on our mental game,” she said. “We came into it knowing it was going to be a struggle. It’s going to be pitch-by-pitch, inning by inning, and we’re just working on keeping our composure, keeping our focus, and looking at it as a big picture – a developmental year, because that’s what it is.”

The Broncos actually took a 1-0 lead off South pitcher Cate Marvin in the top of the first on first of two RBI hits on the day by Ryleigh Dressel. And they also got two great defensive plays by charging center fielder Cori Sevigny, one of which she was going so hard toward the infield to make a shoetop catch that she was able to come all the way in and double off Panther Brooke Koskela at second in the second.

But that was during a nine-run South second inning, and basically it was all Panthers, who had 13 hits but also took advantage of eight hit-by-pitches, most on balls that bounced off a foot or on a roll, plus nine walks, etc. South didn’t really need to tatoo the ball; Cara Leblond led them with three RBIs as she reached base five times.

“Leblond, she comes to work, clocks in, clocks out,” Handy said. “She’s one of the better hitters in the state, right up there. No matter who’s pitching, she’s going to do what she has to do to compete for the team.”

Nashua South’s Cate Marvin delivers a pitch during Wednesday’s game vs.Alvirne at South. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Marvin, meanwhile, seems to have picked up some velocity, as she fanned six, giving up the two runs on five hits while walking two. The Panthers depend on her greatly.

“Now it’s just her,we don’t have a lot of pitchers in the program,” Handy said of the junior. “We’re going to take care of her if there are back-to-backs, but it’s her.”

Handy isn’t under any delusions of grandeur – they lost to Bishop Guertin 12-0 on Monday – but he knows his young team from a couple of years ago is growing up fast and still has only one senior, Emily Richard.

“I know it’s cliché but if we take it inning by inning, and just have timely hitting, I don’t see why we can’t be a top 10 team in the state and sneak into the playoffs and make some noise,” he said. “I’m hoping at the end of this thing we’re one of those teams that no one wants to play because we’re that annoying little fly in everyone’s ear. If we stay healthy, the sky’s the limit for this group.”

Those are the words that Radziewicz hopes she’s saying in a year or two.