Londonderry's Alison Chambers slides home with the Lancers' first run while Guertin pitcher Avery Zapenas awaits the throw from behind the plate during Thursday's rain-halted game at Elliott Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – There was really only one thing that could stop the dominance of Londonderry High School softball pitcher Elizabeth Kearney at Bishop Guertin’s Elliott Field on Thursday:

The rain.

The Lancers and Cardinals left a muddy diamond yesterday with their rematch of last year’s Division I finals suspenended in the top of the fifth with the 13-0 defending champions up 10-2, with two on and one out. There was no word on when the game would be resumed.

The fact the Cardinals had scored two runs vs. Kearney was a feat in itself. Until the bottom of the fourth, she had struck out the first nine hitters she had faced.

“I’ve been doing travel (softball) for 25 years,” Lancers coach Dave Johnson said. “I haven’t had a pitcher like that. This type of pitcher comes around once in a blue moon.”

Well, she’s in Lancer blue, and will be for one more year before she takes her talents to Stonehill College. This season she’s had six shutouts, four no-hitters, and now has 178 strikeouts in 76 innings on the season.

“They’re good,” Guertin coach Dakota Bilodeau said of the Lancers. “We were getting it I think, the top of the lineup the second time around. It’s just putting the pressure on and good quality at bats.

“I can’t wait for that kid to graduate. The biggest compliment ever. She’s awesome.”

The Cards were down 10-0 and certainly looking like they might be no-hit and mercy-ruled as they went into the bottom of the fourth. But Sophie Bilodeau beat out a sharp grounder to third for a hit to lead the inning off, and after stealing second came around to score on an RBI single by Gabby Gillette, and Gillette eventually scored on a wild pitch. But Kearney still managed to strike out the side.

Guertin starter Avery Zapenas had control issues with four wild pitches in a first inning in which the Cards seemed out of sorts, allowing six runs on five Lancer hits and an error. It didn’t help that in the next two innings Lancer Abby Austin boomed two home runs to center. Jenny Davey struck out four in two innings of relief but in the fifth the ball was slipping out of her hands as the rain got too heavy to continue in the mud.

The mud tells the story at Bishop Guertin’s Elliott Field as the Cards’ softball game with Londonderry was suspended by rain in the fifth inning. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

In any event, the Cards are trying to regroup in the midst of a tough stretch, going 3-3 and perhaps 3-4 after starting the season out 6-0.

It didn’t help that starting center fielder Shayne Amico suffered a leg injury that caused a domino effect with all sorts of position changes. For example, Gillette, usually a catcher, was moved to center field, but she certainly got the hang of it with a diving catch and also a fly ball double play to cut down a potential Lancer run. “She’s an athlete,” Bilodeau said.

“We had a few tough ones, against Merrimack and Winnacunnet,” Bilodeau added. “Definitely not our best showing, but we want to peak in June. Peak in June, that’s our motto.”

And maybe get another shot at Kearney.