Nashua South pitcher Cate Marvin reacts after striking out the side in the third inning of Monday night's Battle of the Bridge win over Nashua North. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – There’s something about the Battle of the Bridge that just brings out the best in some players.

Just ask Nashua High School South softball pitcher Cate Marvin.

Marvin struck out 12 Nashua North hitters, allowing just four hits over six innings as the Panthers continued their dominance in the spring Battle of the Bridge with a 13-0 mercy rule win Monday night at Rivier University’s Raider Diamond.

“I don’t know, just something about the Battle of the Bridge, everything’s just fun playing against your friends, everything like that,” said Marvin, who noted this was the best she has pitched this season as the Panthers improved to 4-7. “The rivalry’s there, everyone behind me had my back, so I was just pitching my game.”

“She’s a worker, right?” South coach Kevin Handy said of the junior. “She comes in and focuses the whole time, the whole day. That’s definitely the best she’s pitched.”

The future is bright for both programs. South loses just one senior and the Titans, who fell 0-10, have a host of underclassmen on the roster and lose two seniors. Despite the loss, they made some plays in the field – a double play catch and throw by shortstop Neha Lingadal for one and a diving catch by center fielder Lexie Ackroyd for another – that show they’re improving under coach Jen Hall and her staff.

“Better than last year, right?” Hall said. “That’s the goal, to be better than your last best. Do we have to swing the bat more (just five hits)? Absolutely. We just have to get the bats going.”

“I’ll tell you, Coach Jen is doing just an amazing job,” Handy said. “It’s outstanding. What she’s doing with those girls, I know the wins aren’t showing, but it’s night and day since she’s taken over.”

The one thing the Titans couldn’t do was keep South leadoff hitter Brooke Berger in check.Berger led the game off with a triple and went 4 for 4 with a walk, and drove in three runs.

“She’s a gamer,” Handy said. “She practices well, too, but when the lights turn on, something just clicks in. She’s just a gamer, no matter who it is, she gives 100 percent effort the whole time.”

Berger scored the game’s first run in the first on a strikeout/wild pitch, and she and Maliyah Richer-Valentin drove in single runs in the second to give South a 3-0 lead against Titans senior circle starter Taylor Joyal.Things then broke open in the fifth as three Titan errors led to five Panther runs – the key blow a single to right by Panther that got by the Titan outfield all the way to the wall for two runs with Primeau coming all the way around to score. Berger singed in a run in the fifth and doubled in another in the sixth, part of South’s 10-hit attack.

It was the last time the Panthers would have to face Joyal, who had two hits including a double.

“Ever since her freshman year, that kid has been a thorn in my side,” Handy said. “I don’t care what the score is, that kid is going to go out there and hit and she’s going to do great things if she goes on to the next level.”

North will miss seniors Joyal and Hope Blondin, who also got hit, and in the sixth, after catching all game, switched spots with Joyal, who went behind the plate. Blondin has played every position in her Titan career, a goal she has had, Hall said. “We will miss them both,” she said. “Eleven freshmen, seven sophomores…”

And a bright future.

Nashua North’s Sara Marien forces out South’s Charlotte Primeau at second during Monday night’s Battle of the Bridge at Rivier’s Raider Diamond. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Same for the the Panthers, who are beating teams they’re supposed to beat, but have struggled against the very good and elite. It’s likely the best team Handy has had since the 2021 team that lost to Merrimack in the quarterfinals.

“It is,” he said. “Even with some of those upper teams, we’ll hang in there for a few innings, and they’re getting that taste and the sky’s the limit. They know all that experience has to carry over next year.”

And to the next Battle of the Bridge, which given all the returning players for both, could be a doozy.