A nearly-full slate of baseball during the vacation week can be taxing, but its also a time of year to fix early-season problems and try to find a groove.
The Concord baseball team beat Merrimack on Thursday, 8-3. After a 2-0 start, Concord lost three of its next four to slip to a 3-3 record. Two of the losses were against top teams, Exeter and Londonderry, and Coach Scott Owen was opitimistic thanks to his team’s effort today – a far cry from what he had seen the day before against Nashua South in the third loss, an 8-5 defeat.
“We just didn’t play well (Wednesday),” Owen said. “Taking nothing away from Nashua South, we just weren’t all there.”
Concord started the game well Thursday, scoring two in the first and three in the second. After Ethan Dupre and Stephen Moran reached base, Matt LaTourette singled and drove in Dupre and Moran scored on an error by the catcher. Moran then doubled in the second, driving in Dupre, and scored on a LaTourette single. A ground out by Sean Fallon then drove in Latourette.
Merrimack rebounded, scoring two in the third and one in the fourth to cut the deficit to two.
“Every time you have a five-run lead it’s nice, but we definitely felt like we were still in control (after Merrimack’s runs),” Owen said. “Obviously the margin of error is a lot smaller, though.”
Christian McClellan broke the game open with an RBI triple in the fourth, and Concord added one more insurance run before the final inning.
“Great rebound game after the loss (Wednesday), Griffin Gilbert battled all day,” Owen said. “We’ve been having quality at-bats and our pitching is solid, we just need to shore up our (defense).”
Gilbert went the distance with seven innings pitched, allowing six hits and striking out two in the win. Kurtis Stadnicki finished the day with three hits for the Tide. Concord plays again Monday against Timberlane.
From coaches’ reports
John Stark 9, Hanover 4
Key players: John Stark – Jeremy Aubin (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 steals), Derek Goldrick (2 hits, RBI, steal), Egan Nickerson (2 runs, 2 steals)
Highlights/key moments: Hanover scored late to tie the game, but the Generals struck in the seventh. Stark loaded the bases and Aubin drilled a liner to left that drove in three runs. Wesley Lamphere earned his first career win.
Coach’s quote: “Good game for us today. Our bats took a little while to get going, but they did in a big way. All three of our pitchers did a good job today.” – John Stark’s Dennis Pelletier
Records: John Stark 4-2; Hanover 2-3