> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Wilton-Lyndeborough gets big hit late to beat Profile in D4 softball final - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/wilton-lyndeborough-gets-big-hit-late-to-beat-profile-in-d4-softball-final/ - Published: 2012-06-11T11:00:49.000Z - Updated: 2012-06-11T11:00:49.000Z - Description: PLYMOUTH - No one in Hollywood could have written a better script for Saturday's Division IV softball championship game. - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division III-IV, Spring Sports, Division IV, playoffs, profile, softball, Wilton-Lyndeborough, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 PLYMOUTH - No one in Hollywood could have written a better script for Saturday's Division IV softball championship game. Any silver screen production of the game would certainly have had Sam Broderick delivering the game-winning hit. The Wilton-Lyndeborough High School senior drove in the game's only run with [a two-out single](http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/sports/highschoolsports/963916-221/broderick-delivers-crown-to-warriors.html?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com) in the [bottom of the ninth](http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120609/SPORTS/706109985/1003/sports?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com) to give the top-seeded Warriors a 1-0 victory over No. 3 Profile of Bethlehem at Plymouth State University. For Broderick, it was a long, and in many ways painful, path to win a championship. As a freshman, she was the second pitcher on a team that was the defending champion when it went up against Colebrook in the final. An injury to the Warriors' top pitcher forced Broderick into the game and WLC went on to lose 13-0. The next year, the Warriors got back to the final and were leading 5-2 going into the top of the seventh inning against Woodsville. But the Engineers scored five times in the inning and defeated WLC 7-5\. Last year, the Warriors didn't get a chance to play for a title, losing in the quarterfinals. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/d4softball060912-wlc10-1.jpg "D4softball060912 WLC10-1") WLC coach Denny Claire didn't know what to expect from his pitcher going into this season. Broderick injured her left knee before the start of the softball season, and if she was unable to pitch effectively, the Warriors (20-0) would be in trouble. "When we knew that Sam was injured and wasn't at full strength, we didn't know what was going to happen," Claire said. "With her stride being cut down because of the knee injury, it slowed her speed down. She had to change her pitching philosophy a little with the way she threw the ball and the types of pitches she used. As it turned out, she did a great job all year long, all things considered." Along with a change in philosophy came a constant reminder to break old habits. "I have this bad habit of turning my left foot in when I release the ball," Broderick said. "With my knee this year, it was harder. I had to be aware of where the holes were on the mound. Every pitch, I had to keep doing that because I didn't want to tweak it. I had to remind myself to take it down a notch a little bit." While Broderick was still strong on the mound, her teammates felt the need to be strong in support of her. "I think everyone was worried about the injury and if she would pitch as hard," WLC junior Andrea Heck said. "She withstood it pretty well. I think it encouraged us a little more because she's a senior and she had that injury. We wanted to fight for her a little harder." Heck did her part against Profile (16-4), singling twice and scoring from second on Broderick's game-winning hit. With two out, Heck was able to run on contact, and by the time she reached third, there was only one thing on her mind - scoring. "I was counting on Sam to get that hit," Heck said. "I didn't even look at (the ball) when I rounded third." #### Pitchers' duel Broderick finished the day with two hits and a RBI, and went all nine innings in the circle, striking out six while walking three and allowing five hits. But her pitching performance was almost overshadowed by Profile's Katelyn Austin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/d4softball060912-p13-3.jpg "D4softball060912 P13-3") Austin pitched 8 2/3 innings, giving up a run on five hits and no walks to go with 12 strikeouts. But perhaps the most incredible part was that the Profile junior at one point retired 19 batters in a row. "I didn't think she'd go through us that easy," Claire said. "I thought we'd battle. I thought we might get the run a little earlier, but every time we had the right situation, (Austin) bared down and got them." Heck led off the game with a bunt single, and after that, the Warriors didn't have a base runner until Broderick's bloop single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jenna Bragdon also had a hit for WLC, a single through the left side in the eighth. "She throws heat," WLC senior Katie Day said of Austin. "She has good speed and she has a good rise ball. Playing the teams we do, we don't see a lot of variety of pitches. That's why it took us a while to get used to it." #### Defense does it Claire acknowledge after the game that the Warriors wouldn't have won it in the ninth if their defense hadn't come up with some big plays, specifically in the fifth and seventh. The Patriots loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs, getting a walk and two singles from Kayla Mardin and Marina Sellers, respectively. Leanza Hunt followed by hitting a ground ball to WLC third baseman Sami Bosquet, who field it cleanly and fired a strike to Day at home. Day stepped on the plate for the first out, then quickly turned and threw to first, getting Hunt for the second out. Caroline Eyman then grounded out to short to end the inning. "To make sure I step on the plate and that my throw is accurate," Day said of what was going through her mind on the play. "We do it at least once every other practice." With two out in the seventh, Mardin and Sellers again had back-to-back singles, but Broderick got Hunt to line out to Sophie LeVert in right field to end the inning. "We played great defense the whole playoffs," Claire said. "At the beginning, it didn't look good. They had the situations better than we had. (Broderick) wasn't throwing great, but got better as the game went on and our defense played flawless. The defense won the game." #### Hitting adjustment Perhaps the biggest surprise of Austin's run through the WLC lineup that two of her 12 strikeouts came against Broderick in the first and fourth innings. After the second punch out, Broderick was visibly frustrated immediately after, and when she went back to the circle. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/d4softball060912-w15-2.jpg "D4softball060912 W15-2") "Sam Broderick doesn’t strike out," Claire said. "She was frustrated because she couldn't throw the pitch where she wanted to throw it. She was having trouble with the dirt, it was soft and her pitch was coming up." Frustration had set in several times for Broderick every year during the postseason. This time, she found a way around it. "At the beginning, I was getting really frustrated with myself," she said. "That always seems to happen in the playoffs. It's not so much nerves, it's that I overthink it and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I get frustrated when it doesn't work out. Usually I try to work it into my pitching and I throw harder, but (Saturday), it just seemed like the harder I tried to throw, the more it wasn't going in the strike zone." Broderick was able to overcome by changing her approach at the plate. "I never swing at the first pitch ever, but after the first two at bats, it wasn't worth it (to wait)," she said. "(Austin) is an awesome pitcher and she was throwing strikes. I wasn't making contact at first and I was getting down in the count." The first pitch she saw in the ninth, Broderick sent into center field, ending the game "It was incredible," she said. "It was anyone's game the whole time and it could have gone either way. Thankfully, it went for us." [Broderick delivers crown to Warriors](http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/sports/highschoolsports/963916-221/broderick-delivers-crown-to-warriors.html?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com) \- Nashua Telegraph [Broderick lifts Wilton-Lyndeborough to win](http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120609/SPORTS/706109985/1003/sports?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com) \- Union Leader