It could have been the last game for Tyler Arnold and the rest of the seniors on the Franklin baseball team. But before Tuesday’s Division III first-round playoff matchup against No. 20 Gilford, Arnold found a positive omen.
“I was stroking every ball in BP, so I knew today was going to be a good game for me,” Arnold said.
He was right. Arnold went 3-for-3, scored what turned out to be the winning run in the first and drove in a pair of key insurance runs in the fifth as No. 13 Franklin (10-7) claimed a 5-1 win against the visiting Golden Eagles (7-10).
“Tyler looked great today. He had a good day at the plate, he was solid in the field and I expect him to have a really good tournament,” Franklin Coach Dave Joyce said. “One of the things I preach to all the boys is to give 100 percent, and Tyler did that today, and so did the whole team. We came out fired up for two hours, gave 100 percent and now we get to play a little more baseball on Thursday.”
Thursday’s game will be at No. 4 Laconia (12-4). The Golden Tornadoes might be the underdog in that one, but just last week they beat Laconia, 10-4.
“I don’t want to sound overconfident, they’re a good ball club and we know they’re coming for us and it’s win or go home at this point, but I like our chances,” Joyce said.
The Tornadoes will have their full supply of pitchers available for that game because Joyce pieced together Tuesday’s seven innings with three different arms. Brendon Frechette went the first three and allowed just two base runners as he set the tone for his team.
“Brendon pitched great. He had his breaking ball working and he was throwing strikes,” Arnold said. “He only had one strikeout, but he had everybody hitting ground balls and pop flies. He was doing his job.”
Garrett Fleming worked the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and allowed a single run in the fifth while striking out two. And freshman Harrison Clark threw a scoreless seventh and faced just four batters.
The Tornadoes staked their pitchers to a quick 2-0 lead in the first. Max Joyce (2-for-4) and Arnold singled and Fleming (1-for-2, two RBI, walk) drove them both home with a triple.
Gilford cut that lead in half with a run in the top of the fifth, but Franklin answered in the bottom half of the frame. Bryan Sweet (2-for-4) and Joyce singled to start the rally, and Arnold ended it when he came through with a sharp single to center on a hit-and-run, plating Sweet and Joyce, who came home all the way from first.
“I was looking for a fastball and I got one right down the middle,” Arnold said. “So I just poked out a nice line drive to center.”
Franklin added its last run in the sixth when Corey Nelson walked and came all the way around on throwing errors.
The Tornadoes could potentially play two more games this week (quarterfinals are on Saturday after Thursday’s second round). Because they spread out the innings on Tuesday, all four of their top pitchers – Frechette, Fleming, Clark and T.J. Laramie – have plenty of innings left before they reach their weekly 17-inning limit.
“I tell you what, I couldn’t have written it any better,” Coach Joyce said. “We’re feeling pretty good about the decisions we made and the way the boys played.”
The boys are feeling pretty good about it, too.
“We’re on a roll right now,” Arnold said, “and we’re looking for another win.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @tosullivan20.)
From coaches’ reports
No. 18 Hopkinton 3, No. 15 Berlin 1
Key players: Hopkinton – Ben McManus (7 IP, 8 K, 0 BB, 5 hits), Kyle Slevira (3-for-4, RBI), Josh Angell (hit, run), Alex Lajeunesse (hit, run)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks came up with two runs in the seventh and McManus needed just 77 pitches to work the complete game as Hopkinton took the long bus ride to Berlin and came back with a win. The Hawks built a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Lajeunesse singled and eventually scored on a passed ball with two outs. Hopkinton’s seventh-inning runs came when Kolin LaPage scored on a sacrifice fly from McManus, and Angell came home on a double from Slevira. The Hawks got big defensive plays from Dustin Rose and David Nelson in the second and Angell in the sixth.
Coach’s quote: “It came down to the seventh and we got the two runs we needed to have. It was a pretty good high school baseball game.” – Hopkinton’s Dave Chase
Records: Hopkinton 9-9; Berlin 8-9
No. 19 Newfound 17, No. 14 Hopkinton 12
Key players: Hopkinton – Gabby Lajeunesse (1-for-2 3 runs, RBI, double), Kasey Smith (1-for-2, 3 runs), Alexis Blanchette (2-for-3, 3 RBI)
Highlights/key moments: With starting pitcher Blanchette battling injury, the Hawks fell behind 9-0 early. They battled back to make it 12-10 after three, but the Bears made all the key plays after that and scored three in the seventh inning to seal the win.
Coach’s quote: “You like to peak in time for the playoffs, unfortunately we didn’t. We had some injuries, didn’t make some plays that we usually make, and Newfound took advantage. Congratulations to them on the win.” – Hopkinton’s Dan Meserve
Records: Hopkinton 9-8; Newfound 6-11
No. 13 Gilford 14, No. 20 Kearsarge 2
Key players: Kearsarge – Samantha Dow (run), Caroline Beaton (run)
Highlights/key moments: Gilford got a big three-run home run in the fourth inning to break things open. The Golden Eagles will face No. 4 Mascenic in the next round.
Records: Kearsarge 5-12; Gilford 10-7
John Stark 3, Mascenic 1
Key players: John Stark – Seniors Aedan McCarron, Cody Lemay, Sawyer Lemay and Tyler Bossart (all three played well both offensively and defensively)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals started fast and grabbed the first game, 25-16. Mascenic answered with a 25-20 win the second game, but Stark made the necessary adjustments and won the next two games, 25-17 and 25-15, to take the match.
Coach’s quote: “I was really pleased with the effort put in by everyone, but in particular by the seniors on their senior night. They came in ready to play and fought hard from start to finish. This also helped us regain some momentum as we host our round one playoff game this Friday.” – Stark’s Dave Simeone
Records: John Stark 9-7; Mascenic 2-14