At 17-14-1, the Plymouth State softball team find themselves in fourth place in a Little East Conference where only the top six teams make playoffs. Junior Abrie Davis (Amherst, NH) continues to swing a hot bat hitting .337 and leading the team in RBI’s with nineteen. The Panthers biggest bright spot this season has been the players in the circle. Led by pitchers Caitlyn Miller (Lee, NH), Hannah Seidner (Pembroke, NH), Allison Moylan (Methuen, Mass.) and Kayla Mathieu (Fairfax, VT) the teams 2.98 earned run average is the fourth best in the conference. Their 56 walks allowed also leads the LEC in fewest.

The Panthers picked up an impressive sweep on the road when they took both games from Eastern Connecticut by scores of 4-2 and 6-5 on Saturday, April 15th. They traveled to Southern Maine on the April 18th, game one went nine innings before the Huskies would pull off the 2-1 win. Game two was a much different affair, as the Panthers would swing their bats to the tune of seven runs to take the nightcap 7-2. Plymouth would next make the trip to west- ern Vermont on a rainy Wednesda y afternoon to face the Castleton Spartans. Game one would go the Panthers way as they took the 7-5 victory due in large part to three RBI’s from Davis. Plymouth had a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh in game two, but a grand slam by Castleton would tie it at five apiece. Mother nature would allow no more to be played giving Plymouth their only tie this season. The Panthers next headed to Western Connecticut in another pivotal Little East doubleheader. Despite Plymouth’s six runs it wasn’t enough to overcome the Colonials, as they would fall in their fourth one-run game of the season 7-6. Game two was a much different outcome as a Panther five run third inning led them to a 9-6 victory with a strong pitching performance in which Seidner picked up her fourth win and Moylan picked up her second career sve.

Moylan, who the last two seasons has been an outfielder and starting pitcher for the Panthers, has started to adjust quite nicely to her new role as a closing pitcher. “It makes me really happy. It lets me know that my coach has faith in me to finish close games like Western,” Moylan says with a smile. “When coach tells me I’m going in I get nervous, but the good kind of nervous. When I’m out there, hearing my teammates and parents cheer for me every single pitch it makes me realize I can do it!”

Plymouth will have played their home opener against Keene on Thursday with scores unavailable at this time. Their last game will be Saturday when they host Rhode Island College for Senior Day. The Panthers will acknowledge three seniors as Rachel Morrissey (Salem, NH), Emma Rhodes (Rochester, NH), and Katie Kennard (Concord, NH) are all playing their last regular season game at Plymouth. Morrissey has a lot of emotions as she prepares to play her final regular season home game as a Panther. “Most of all I feel thankful,” Explains Morrissey. “I have been lucky enough to play the sport I love for 16 years of my life. The friendships that I have made through the sport are lifelong. I'm so happy to be able to have Emma and Katie share this experience with me. I'm grateful to be able to end my career with such a great group of girls.”