The glass slipper shatters

Tag : slipper used

MANCHESTER - The setting was appropriate, given thatMerchantsAuto.com Stadium is the Granite State's hardball castle.The stage was perfect, too, since there's no grander ballroom inhigh school baseball than the state title game.
Bow just couldn't find a way to finish its fairy tale playoff runwith a happy ending.
Following a string of upsets that led them to the final, the11th-seeded Falcons finally saw their glass slipper shatteryesterday, falling 6-0 to top-ranked Portsmouth - the flawlessprince of Class I, which used its 12th shutout to cap a perfectseason at 23-0.
"This was a very exciting postseason. I just told the kids it wasprobably one of the finest three weeks of baseball that I've beeninvolved in," Bow Coach Ben Forbes said. "Once the tears clear outof the eyes a little bit I think everybody will be able to rememberit as a great run.
"Finishing second to a team like Portsmouth is nothing to shake astick at."
Especially considering the expectations the Falcons faced when thistournament began. Coming in at 9-8, Bow (12-9) wasn't even supposedto escape a first-round trip to Monadnock, but after upsetting thesixth seed, and following that with wins over No. 14 Coe-Brown andsecond-ranked Kearsarge, the Falcons earned the right to fire thefinal shot at the mighty Clippers.
And after four innings yesterday, there was reason to believe theirmagical run might continue one more night. To that point Bow hadproven itself the equal of Portsmouth, a first-inning walk and asacrifice fly conspiring to give the Clippers a 1-0 lead, butotherwise the difference between sides was indiscernible.
That changed in the fifth, however, when Bow began to leakdefensively - and Portsmouth took the opportunity to bust thingsopen.
The rally started with a Nate Jones single and steal, then after aflyout really started to gain steam. Mike Fransoso ripped a doubleto the gap to make it 2-0, and after a Ben Hart single and MikeMontville double the lead had doubled again.
At that point Bow reliever Andrew Knight - who took over for ColbyHall after 4⅓ innings and three earned runs - settled downwith a strikeout, but two infield errors allowed Portsmouth to pushthe cushion to 5-0.
"We were able to hang with them," Forbes said. "Then we gave up thebig inning, and that was pretty much it."
Tim Welch saw to that. The Clippers senior southpaw hadn't alloweda run all season - earned or otherwise - and yesterday he showedprecisely why. Throwing each of his three pitches exactly where hewanted to, varying speeds and spots effectively, he limited theFalcons to just three hits and a walk while striking out 11 overseven innings.
Danny Achorn had two of Bow's hits, but the Falcons' best chance toreach Welch actually came when Connor Audycki bounced a singlethrough the left side in the third. Matt Champagne was on secondafter a walk and a wild pitch, but because Keegan Pafford reachedthe ball so shallow in left field Forbes elected to hold his runnerrather than risk running into an out.
That left Falcons at the corners with two outs, but Welch escapedtrouble by whiffing the next hitter, then didn't allow another Bowrunner to reach scoring position the rest of the way.
"He's rounding third and that kid's 20 yards in the outfield,"Forbes said of holding Champagne. "To have him run into an out atthe plate at the point would've been a lot worse than to have himsitting at third."

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