By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

Closing out contests, gaining confidence, and finding the balance between having fun and remaining focused were the three goals Deb Smith set for her softball team prior to the start of the 2005 softball season.

Pembroke Academy second baseman Jess Farley, one of the Spartans. three senior captains, had a big hand in the team's tremendous 2005 season, which ended in the Final Four. PA earned the No. 2 seed in the Class I softball tournament and beat two schools to reach the semifinals. Seen here, Farley makes the flip to first for the second out in the top of the seventh inning of her squad's 10-4 first-round victory against Merrimack Valley. (Marc Thaler Photo)

Winning the Class I state championship, while a nice thought, ranked fourth on the list of Pembroke Academy's head coach.

Although the Spartans didn't win that state title, they sure came close. PA advanced to the state semifinals before bowing out to Milford.

Yes, the Spartans felt the sting of a tough loss in the Final Four, the coach said. But the discomfort only lasted for a moment.

The Spartans accomplished way too much in '05- which included meeting the coach's preseason objectives - to feel anything but extreme pride.

"The girls played hard every day. We had one, maybe two, days off since March," said Smith, seated beyond the centerfield fence for the Class I title game at Concord's Memorial Field on Saturday, June 11. "They were tired at the end because they gave. They gave all season long. We didn't check out once."

Laziness isn't an attribute Smith accepts in her softball players. During Smith's playing days at PA, she competed with passion.

This spring, the coach filled her roster with athletes who share a similar love for the sport.

"I felt the chemistry from day one, right after tryouts," she said. "And it never stopped. It kept growing and growing and growing."

Smith attributed much of her team's increased confidence to the experience of competing in Class L in previous seasons.

In particular, the Spartans. ability to nearly knock out Pinkerton Academy of Derry - the eventual '04 champions - in the first round of last year's tournament provided PA's returning players with a tremendous boost.

Early this season, Smith said her girls started to see they could make things happen on the diamond.

Making the routine plays became second nature. And making some extraordinary plays happened with more frequency.

As a result, PA built momentum, which helped fill the win column early and often. "They never got cocky," Smith said. "I started to see they were more self assured. And they were having fun."

In a campaign Smith described as a "wild ride," the Spartans finished the '05 regular season with a 16-3 record, earning the tourney's No. 2 seed.

Before her group entered the 16-team, single-elimination playoff, Smith was made aware of a special Spartans statistic.

Smith said she learned from her mentor, longtime PA softball coach Art Ellis, that the Spartans. best single-season record was 17- 3. With wins against Merrimack Valley and Plymouth Regional in the tourney's first two rounds, the '05 edition eclipsed that mark.

"They would just never quit. They never thought about quitting," Smith said. "They never believed they were gonna lose."

The dream season, however, would come to a close one round earlier than anyone on the squad hoped. But even a 6-2 loss to Milford couldn't stop the Spartans from smiling, when thinking about how far they traveled.

The journey, Smith said, proved more valuable than any championship plaque.

"They wanted to win the semis. They deserved to be there," Smith said. "But afterwards, we didn't have one single kid crying. We had disappointment. That's normal. You want that, otherwise it doesn't mean anything to you ... But they were in good spirits. They felt, and (the coaches) felt, they left it all on the field."