Unfortunately, there's an opposite to the inspiring "worst to first" storyline in sports.

To find it, you don't have to go any further than the Timberlane softball team, which was 20-3 and the Class L champion in 2008 before slipping, at 1-18, to dead last this year in Class L.

What happened? It certainly wasn't the coaching turnover. Although veteran Mike Sorter did retire on top, able assistant Jim Clavette took over with his wife, Jane, among his helpers. They had been diligently assisting Sorter behind the scenes for years.

"Believe me, it wasn't the coaching," said 2008 captain Amy Green, who played at Plymouth State this spring. "I'm sure the coaching was fine."

The explanation for the rapid decline is, however, a simple one.

"Pitching, pitching, pitching," said Clavette. "It was just walk, walk, walk, and you can't do that in high school softball.

"We'd be in games, and then suffer three, four, five walks in a row, and we'd be out of it."

The Owls did have some potential on the mound, with junior Lindsay Rumikaitis and freshman Shirley Butterfield sharing duties, but not enough experience. Butterfield, according to Clavette, has only been pitching for five months and Rumikaitis had little intense game experience.

"You can't pick up a ball in February and be prepared for high school ball," said Clavette. "You've got a team like Concord with four pitchers, Salem with five or six, and most of them have been pitching for years, and for more than just a few months per year."

The Owls did have some highlights. In addition to their 5-3 win over Keene, they nearly beat Bishop Guertin (8-7) in their next game and they played an excellent game in a 1-0 loss to a solid Alvirne team which is in the state semifinals. But they also gave up 10 or more runs in 10 games.

Moreover, there were players like senior Courtney Marchand, who had a fine season, who were lost in the blur of erratic pitching and occasional defensive woes.

"I feel bad for her (Marchand), because she did everything she could to help us," said Clavette.

Fortunately, there is hope for a better future. Butterfield seems committed to working at her pitching year-round and there is help coming from a good middle school team. But it probably won't be another quick turnaround.

"It'll be another two or three years before we're really competitive again," said Clavette. "We're going to work hard at it. This was as frustrating for me as the girls. I don't like to lose, and we tried a lot of things to win more games, but it just didn't work out."

In high school softball, of course, you can try all you want but, if there is not consistent pitching, it may not matter.

On the other hand ...

Hats off to Georgetown, which improved from 0-16 to 8-9, thanks largely to the improvement of sophomore pitcher Sarah Erlandson. She worked on her control, which improved dramatically, increased her velocity and eventually became the Cape Ann League small school Player of the Year.

There were several other Royals, like Sarah Osborne and Hannah Birnie, who had fine seasons, but it was Erlandson who keyed the turnaround.

Yet, there were far more teams that slipped because of inconsistency on the mound. Andover (8-12) and North Andover (8-12) both had fine lineups, for example, but uneven pitching cost them dearly. In fact, nearly every local team with a losing record struggled mightily from the pitcher's circle.

Semifinal previews

Londonderry, which boasted six batters hitting over .300 entering the playoffs, will need to get its stroke back Thursday (postponed from today) when it faces No. 2-seed Concord at 5 p.m. in the Class L semifinals in Concord.

The Lancers upset Concord 4-2 back on May 1 and it may need to score four runs again in order to advance.

Londonderry only had five hits off fired-up Cara Chooljian of Pinkerton in last Saturday's classic 16-inning 1-0 victory. And tomorrow (also postponed from today), Sanborn and Campbell will play a 5 p.m. rubber game in the Class M semifinals at Plymouth State. Campbell beat the Indians 1-0 back on April 22 but Sanborn clipped Campbell 7-2 last month.

Led by shortstop Morgan Farmer, the Indians have become a better hitting team in the last month while also shoring up their defense.