By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
The Class I baseball tournament provided a cocktail of emotions for Portsmouth High School coach Tim Hopley.
Hopley's sister, 34-year-old Christina Magalhaes, died in the hospital while Portsmouth was playing Merrimack Valley in the quarterfinals. Magalhaes was scheduled to have a kidney removed that day.
Eight days later Hopley was celebrating with his team after the top-seeded Clippers (23-0) beat 11th-seeded Bow, 6-0, in the Class I championship game.
"These guys found out (that Magalhaes had passed away) after our quarterfinal game last Saturday and every step throughout the week they picked me up," Hopley said. "They came to the wake on Tuesday night as a group; it was unbelievably meaningful to my family. They said, ‘We're going to take care of this for you.' I couldn't have asked for anything more."
Senior Tim Welch pitched a complete game against Bow. Welch completed the season with a 9-0 record and didn't allow a run – earned or unearned – in 52 innings this season.
Bow completed its season with a 12-9 record.
Three other baseball championship games were played last weekend:
Class L: Goffstown 4, Salem 3
Korey Kiros hit a single that scored Alex Hickey in the top of the seventh and helped Goffstown win its first state championship since it joined Class L in 2003.
Top-seeded Salem tied the game, 3-3, by scoring three times in the sixth.
Class M: Prospect Mountain 2, Mascenic 1
Erick Boudreau's single scored Cam Drouin in the bottom of the eighth and handed Prospect Mountain its second Class M title in as many years. The top-seeded Timberwolves (22-0) stretched their winning streak to 28 games.
Mascenic's Craig Brand broke up Ryan Gillan's no-hitter with two outs in the seventh. His double scored Adam Kunnunen and tied the game, 1-1.
Class S: Colebrook 4, Pittsburgh 3
Jeff Richer pitched a complete game and struck out eight to propel Colebrook to the Class S championship.
Adam Fothergill's bunt with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth broke a 3-3 tie.
Softball: Timberlane Derails Salem
Senior Stephanie Barrett pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out eight as second-seeded Timberlane won its first Class L championship by beating top-seeded Salem, 1-0, in Saturday's Class L championship game.
It was Timberlane's first state championship in Class L.
First-inning singles by Amy Green, Anne Hansbury and Kristen Crotts accounted for the game's only run. Salem had won eight of the last 10 Class L titles.
Timberlane was one of four softball teams to win a state championship Saturday:
Class I: Portsmouth 6, Coe-Brown 1
Junior Kortney Dorow tossed a one-hitter to help second-seeded Portsmouth (21-2) win the program's first state championship.
Catcher Amanda Studer had two of Portsmouth's eight hits. Third baseman Audra Ludington added a solo home run for the Clippers, who have one senior on their roster.
Jana Salisbury had the only hit for top-seeded Coe-Brown (20-2).
Class M: Franklin 6, Gilford 1
Amanda Barton turned in another dominating performance in the circle as top-seeded Franklin completed its season with a 21-1 record.
Barton, who will play for Southern New Hampshire University next season, struck out 14 and held sixth-seeded Gilford to four hits. Barton had 63 strikeouts and didn't walk a batter in four tournament games.
Gilford's four hits were the only four hits Barton allowed in the tournament.
Class S: Wilton-Lyndeborough 6, Groveton 3
Sophomore catcher Marika Thompson collected three hits and top-seeded Wilton-Lyndeborough posted its first unbeaten season (24-0) in the program's history.
Wilton-Lyndeborough beat third-seeded Groveton in the Class S championship game for the second time in as many years.
Track and Field: Tomahawks Set State Record
Merrimack's 4x800 relay team prevailed in record time to highlight New Hampshire's performance at Saturday's New England Track and Field Championships at Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine.
Merrimack's team of Alex Bealieau, Brian Paison, Seth Hafferkamp and William Godfrey posted a winning time of 7 minutes, 49.19 seconds to set a state record.
New Hampshire had four individual winners as well. Two of the four – juniors Kaitlyn D'Orazio and Rachel Schneider - both attend St. Thomas Aquinas in Dover.
D'Orazio won the 800 in 2:13.53, and Schneider's winning time in the 1,600 was 4:51.61. In addition, Somersworth senior Danika Ham won the javelin with a throw that traveled 149 feet, 6 inches; and Con-Val senior Alex McGrath won the 3,200 in 9:09.21.
