TILTON – It was a playoff win. It just didn’t feel like one.
After securing the final out of their Elite Baseball League tournament victory against Academy American, the 18U Concord Cannons players jogged nonchalantly back to the dugout. They packed their bags quietly. And then they left. No celebrations, no embraces, no fired-up victory speeches.
There’s a reason for the muted reaction. After all, it’s one more tournament in a season full of them. But don’t confuse that with an indifference to winning.
“I think it kind of blends in, personally, but you don’t want to get that attitude,” center fielder and Bow High player Conner Lorenz said. “We definitely give it our all every tournament. Every tournament to us is important, and we want to win every one.”
Right now, their sights are set on the EBL tournament, the Cannons’ only showdown of the year against the league’s teams. Each of the 10 teams play a doubleheader against another, which Concord split Tuesday against Academy, earning a 5-3 win after a 4-2 loss. Then there’s a third game, which for Concord will be against Peabody, Mass,-based Antonelli Baseball this afternoon. From there, the four teams with the best records after tiebreakers move on to settle the title Thursday.
What might sound like high stakes are actually the normal AAU week. There was a tournament going on Tuesday and there will be one going on today. Just like there was one the week before. And one the week before that. And there’s another one – a big one, in New Jersey against some of the top teams on the East Coast – this coming weekend.
The EBL tournament, however, is unique. With most of the teams based in New England, it adds some local taste to a travel-heavy season, allowing the tournament to stand out a bit from the string of showcases.
“It’s good to be able to play the teams we’ve grown rivals with,” Head Coach Bryan Caruso said. “It’s kind of like the last time we play them for the year. A lot of these other tournaments, depending on how much teams travel, you might not see any New England teams at the other tournaments.”
Concord’s bid for a title started poorly. The Cannons took a quick lead but let it slip away, tying the game in the fifth only to see Danvers, Mass.-based Academy take the lead for good with a pair of runs in the sixth.
In the second game, however, the Cannons had their ace on the mound. Concord Crimson Tide standout Griffin Gilbert stymied the Academy lineup, pitching a complete game while striking out 10 and allowing four hits – none through the first three innings.
“I was using my curveball, mostly. The fastball was setting them up and then I was getting them with the curveball,” Gilbert said. “That’s usually what I do, just try to throw strikes. … Strikeouts come whenever, I don’t care. As long as I’m getting outs.”
It looked like Gilbert had an easy afternoon ahead of him when he got some early support from his offense. He helped himself by doubling in Kurtis Stadnicki for the first run of the game in the first inning, then got two more runs in the second, one on an Evan Vulgamore sacrifice fly, and another in the fifth on a Lorenz base hit.
But trouble began to brew in the bottom of the fifth. Academy picked up two singles, got a run home on back-to-back errors to make it 4-1, then had the bases loaded after a fly ball fell into shallow right.
“We had the lead, so it was easy to keep calm,” Gilbert said. “(The missed plays) bother you a little bit, but you’ve just got to get rid of it and move on to the next pitch. The next out’s more important.”
Gilbert showed that mentality, notching a strikeout, inducing a fielder’s choice and escaping the inning with a caught stealing during a rundown that scored another run. Academy scored three but Gilbert kept the lead, no small feat with the bases loaded and no outs.
Caruso lauded his pitcher’s poise afterward, and the moment was an indication of how the Cannons approach these tournaments. Rather than look at it as a pure showcase, during which everyone plays a fixed amount, Caruso gives his players chances to work out of the jams they’d face down the road.
“I think that’s what’s a little different with our program than some others,” he said. “We’re trying to get the win. We’re trying to win these tournaments. … I think for these guys that are going to move on to college, college baseball is really about that. You’re coming together as a team.”
Gilbert had a smooth road the rest of the way, pitching a perfect sixth and seventh. Lorenz knocked in the final run in the seventh, giving him three hits and two RBI.
“I completely changed my stance from last week,” he said. “I went to an open stance, and that seemed to do the trick today. I felt pretty comfortable up there. I think a lot of it was my timing. I was getting too tight at the plate.”
Riley Stone and Gilbert each had a pair of hits in the win. Corey Derosier, Garrett Kearney and Stadnicki had a hit apiece.
In the first game, the Cannons mustered only three singles in support of Jared Ranlett, who allowed six hits while striking out four in seven innings. Lorenz, Kearney and Derosier had the hits.
The loss means the Cannons will need a win today – and perhaps some help – to keep their EBL chances alive. Win or lose, however, there won’t be time for any prolonged elation or disappointment. A trip to New Jersey for the season-ending Blue Chip Invitational beckons, and Caruso said the five-day event is a prime opportunity for uncommitted Cannons players to turn heads.
“I look at this as a good warm-up for us … to get ready for next week. It’s our last event of the year, and the one kids look forward to all season,” he said. “A lot of our players, getting out of the New England region, have gotten noticed at that tournament.”
Still, an EBL title would look pretty good.
“It’s a good recruiting tool for us,” Caruso said. “We want to continue to get better as a program and get quality players. … And those types of tournament wins are big for that.”
(Drew Bonifant can be reached at 369-3340, abonifant@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @dbonifant.)