They weren’t worried about Campbell’s 2014 Division III title. Or the follow up title the Cougars claimed last year. Or the 41 straight games Campbell had won.
“To be honest, the winning streak we were focused on was the 10 games they had won to start this season,” Bow baseball Coach Ben Forbes said. “The other years didn’t matter to us.”
That focus worked as the Falcons beat Campbell, 4-3, on Saturday in Bow. It was the first loss since 2014 for the Cougars (10-1) and it was the third win of the week for the resurgent Falcons (8-3).
“The kids were excited, the coaching staff was excited, it was awesome,” Forbes said. “We had a four-game week and we were able to take three out of four.”
The one that got away from Bow last week was an 8-6 loss against Pelham on Wednesday. It was a game the Falcons feel they should have won, but the loss may have steered the team on to the right track.
“We identified some things in that Pelham loss that we need to work on to be more consistent and to compete, and we did that at Somersworth (a 6-1 win on Friday) and we did it again today,” Forbes said. “And our focus was on us today, not on Campbell. We focused on what we needed to bring in terms of intensity to play the brand of baseball we want to play.”
The Cougars took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first after Bow starter Ben Kimball (4 IP, three runs, four hits, one strikeout, five walks) walked the first two batters and then gave up a pair of two-out, RBI singles. One of the problems the Falcons identified in that loss to Pelham was players hanging their heads when things weren’t going well, but that problem didn’t crop up against Campbell.
Instead of getting discouraged, the Falcons came back with three runs in the bottom of the first. They were helped by three errors from the Cougars in the inning, but they took advantage of those, a walk from Jeff Bell and two stolen bases from Connor Blandini to take a 3-2 lead.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Kimball hit two batters and gave up a single to get himself into a base-loaded jam. He went to 2-0 on the next batter when Forbes lifted him in favor of Brendan Winch. Winch ended up walking the inherited batter, but he induced a ground ball to minimize the damage and then worked two scoreless innings to earn the win.
“Brendan hasn’t been throwing his best, but he came into a tough spot today and got the job done and really found his groove,” Forbes said.
Like they did in the first, the Falcons immediately answered Campbell in the fifth. Ben Guertin led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt and came home with the game-winning run on a single from Jack Corriveau.
The Cougars got a runner to third with one out in the top of the seventh, but they couldn’t execute a suicide squeeze attempt and then Winch induced a ground ball to Guertin at second base for the final out.
There are now three one-loss teams in D-III and Bow is responsible for handing two of those teams – Campbell and Belmont (11-1) – their only blemishes.
From coaches’ reports
Bow 7, Portsmouth Christian 2
Key players: Bow – Mike Mullen (8-5 win at No. 3 singles), Owen Molind (8-5 win at No. 4), Aditya Shah (8-2 win at No. 5), Jack Olson (8-5 win at No. 6)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons were challenged by Portsmouth Christian, which had won eight of its last nine matches. Bow’s top two players, Brayden Binder and Evan Alfano, lost their singles matches, but came back to claim a 9-8 (7-4) win in doubles. Mullen and Shah won 8-6 and Molind and Olson won 8-5 to complete the doubles sweep.
Records: Bow 11-1, Portsmouth Christian 8-4
Kearsarge first
Key players: Kearsarge – Troy Davis (1st high jump, long jump, triple jump), Zach Astle (first shot put, discus, javelin), Ian Bready (1st 300 hurdles) Tim Cunningham (3rd 3,200)
Highlights/key moments: The Division III Cougars finished with 109 points to claim the 13-team Connecticut Valley Championship meet, finishing six points ahead of D-I Keene and 37 points ahead of third-place Lebanon, a D-II school. Things came down to the last event, the 4 x 400 relay, where Keene finished first, but the Kearsarge team of Bready, Hunter Burns, Alex Kalpakgain and Carl Betz took third to give the Cougars the title.
Belmont first
Key players: Belmont – Eli Allman (1st 110 hurdles, 1st 300 hurdles), Kyle Gelinas (1st 800), Marc Forgione Jr. (tied 1st 100, tied 2nd 200), TJ Hennessey (tied 1st 100), River Mathieu (1st 200, 2nd long jump, 3rd 100), Isaiah Knowlton (1st 3,200), Adam Sojka (1st triple jump), Brendon Scheffer (1st shot put, tied 2nd 200), Ian Remenar (tied 2nd 300 hurdles), Nolan Gagnon (2nd 400), Zach Ennis (2nd 800), Michael Sanborn (2nd discus, 3rd shot put), Caleb Duggan (2nd javelin)
Highlights/key moments: The Red Raiders (124.5) won their fourth home meet of the season, handily defeating Portsmouth Christian (51), Gilford (46.5) and Mascenic (28). Belmont won eight individual events, the 4×100 and 4×400 relays and finished second in the 4×800.
Kearsarge ninth
Key players: Kearsarge – Maggie Lee (4th 800), Megan Roy (4th javelin)
Highlights/key moments: Monadnock won the 14-team Connecticut Valley Championship meet with 140 points, followed by Lebanon (127 points) and Brattleboro, Vt., (50). Kearsarge (19) was ninth. The only first-place result for the Cougars came from the 4 x 800 Lee, Maddie Cook, Patricia Jewell and Courtney Lauster.
Belmont first
Key players: Belmont – Alice Riley (1st 1,600, 1st 3,200), Kylie Donovan (1st 100 hurdles, 1st 300 hurdles)m Kaitlyn Delisle (1st long jump, 3rd 100), Jasmine Syed (1st 800), Abigail Camire (2nd 100 hurdles, 2nd 300 hurdles), Emma Chase (2nd 800), Alexus Day (2nd 400), Ashley Olisky (2nd shot put), Veronica Harris (2nd discus)
Highlights/key moments: The Red Raiders (95.5) won their third home meet of the season, defeating Gilford (55), Portsmouth Christian (46.5) and Mascenic (8). Belmont won the 4×800 and finished second in the 4×400.
Bow 9, Windham 5
Key players: Bow – Alex Killion (3 assists), Colin Tracy (goal), Brendan Ulrich (2 goals), Ben Podis (2 goals, assist) Jared Reynolds (2 goals), Colin Buck (2 goals, assist)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons held a narrow 3-2 halftime lead, but scored five goals in the third quarter to take a 9-4 lead into the fourth. The defense played particularly well, with Alex Hoeker, Rob Jocelyn, Aidan Koorneef, Matt Harkins and goalie Chase Chamberlin holding the Jaguars to one goal in the three of the four quarters helping the Falcons upset one of D-II’s best programs.
Records: Bow 4-6; Windham 8-4
Kearsarge 16, Belmont 5
Key players: Belmont – Allivia Burbank (3 goals), Jen Hamilton (goal), Anna Scott (goal), Keagan Berry (15 saves); Kearsarge – Leslie Angus (4 goals, 3 assists), Maicy Hansen (4 goals, assist), Jackie DeAngelis (2 goals), Anna Stowell (2 goals), Vica Henskens (2 goals), Kaileigh Davis (goal), Eleni Souliotis (goal)
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders did a good job getting to 50/50 balls and Berry played well in net, but still fell to the second-place Cougars.
Records: Kearsarge 9-2; Belmont 1-10