Four softball championships will be decided around the state today along with a boys' volleyball title. Out of state in Saco, Maine, some New Hampshire high school hopefuls will compete in the New England Track & Field Championships.

Third-seeded and defending champion Alvirne of Hudson tries to use the arm of New Hampshire Gatorade Softball Player of the Year Taylor Carbone to upset top-seeded and undefeated Salem in the Division I tilt scheduled for 7 p.m. at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. Salem's talented hurler Nicole Gubellini will lead the Blue Devils squad.

“This is a great matchup for New Hampshire softball,” Salem coach Harold Sachs said. “We've talked about this matchup between these teams for several years and to have this happen in the championship game is great for everyone to watch.”

“Clearly on the offensive side we're going to need a good approach each at-bat while facing Carbone for us to win. We'll need to battle at the plate. On the defensive side, we know they are going to hit. They are going to reach base. We'll need to limit their chances to score.”

The Division II contest between No. 3 Kennett and No. 4 Portsmouth will get under way at 4:30 p.m. at SNHU.

The Division III and IV championships will take place at Plymouth State University. The Division IV game featuring No. 1 Wilton-Lyndeborough and No. 3 Profile of Bethlehem begins at 3 p.m. while in Division III, third-seeded Stevens of Claremont and fourth-seeded White Mountains of Whitefield will lock horns at 5 p.m.

No. 2 Pinkerton of Derry and No. 1 Salem play for the boys' volleyball crown at the Hackler Gymnasium at Pinkerton in Derry tonight at 6. A win by the Astros would mark the first time the Blue Devils were not crowned champions in the eight-year history of the sport in the state. Salem has claimed seven straight titles and has never been taken to a fifth and deciding set.

Bishop Guertin's Betsy Garnick has the best seeded time of 14.27 seconds in the girls' 100-meter hurdles event heading into today's track and field championship. Exeter's Hillary Holmes tops the charts in the girls' 300 meter hurdles with her Meet of Champions winning time of 44.69. Her triple jump distance of 38-5.00 ranks her second.

New Hampshire has the top two qualifiers on the boys' side in the 400-meter dash with Tanner Kent of Souhegan in Amherst (48.66) and Eric Tahtamoni of Salem (49.00). Bow's Jonathan Vinnenberg is the favorite in the 800 with his time of 1:53.74.