With six games to be played in the final week of the American Legion season and its postseason tournament hopes on the line, Weare Post 65 did not get the start it wanted with in a 17-6 six-inning defeat to Lebanon on Sunday.
Despite the tough loss, Weare did not hang their heads and quickly turned things around with a 10-2 victory over Laconia Post 1 on Monday at St. Anselm’s.
“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Post 65 and John Stark head baseball coach Dennis Pelletier said. “It was the complete opposite of what (Sunday) was. Every day is a different day. To lose by that much (on Sunday) when you’re a good team is tough to swallow, but they came back and fought (on Monday). This win was very important.”
The win lifts Weare into third place with a 5-6 record, one win ahead of Laconia (4-9), Sweeney (4-7) and Keene (4-8), teams that are also fighting for the third- and fourth-place spots in the District A standings.
The top four teams in District A and District B qualify for the Senior Legion State Tournament.
Not only was Pelletier pleased with the fact that Weare won, he was also pleased with how his squad won, using some big at-bats to fuel a six-run second inning and effective pitching from Goffstown’s Tyler Gendron (win) and and John Stark’s Brett Patnode (save).
With six games in seven days, Pelletier stressed the need to manage pitchers effectively and Gendron (59 pitches in four innings on the mound) and Patnode (29 pitches in three innings) did enough to secure the win, while keeping their pitch counts low enough to hit the mound later in the week.
“He mixed up his speed very well,” Pelletier said of Gendron, who allowed one unearned run and four hits, while striking out four and walking two.
The Post 65 pitching staff had plenty of support at the plate, with Goffstown’s Tyler Santoro hitting an RBI double and Hillsboro-Deering’s Gunner Hagstrom (2-for-5, four RBI) hitting a two-run triple to ignite a six-run second inning.
John Stark’s Aaron Robertson (2-for-3, three runs, RBI) scored on a Patnode (2-for-4, two RBI) single to give Post 65 a 7-0 lead through three innings.
Robertson’s RBI single and Hagstrom’s two-run single in the fourth game Post 65 a 10-1 lead through four, giving Patnode (one unearned run, two hits allowed, one strikeout, no walks) a nice cushion in relief.
Tilton Prep’s Cole Winkelmann scored runs for Post 1 in the fourth and sixth innings, both of them driven in by Laconia’s Cam Haynes.
While hitting has been consistently strong for Post 65 and Weare did not hit poorly in Sunday’s loss to Lebanon, Pelletier admitted it was nice to rebound with more runs on Monday.
“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Pelletier said. “(Schedules like this) allow players chances to get momentum.”
Weare will need all of the run support it can get since the pitching staff has taken some hits.
Derek Goldrick, a First Team All-State selection for John Stark and incoming freshmen for the Division I Quinnipiac University baseball team, had to drop from the roster early due to his commitments to Quinnipiac.
Matt Woodward, a former pitcher for Goffstown and Nicholls College who is transferring to the University of New Hampshire, has been treating an injury.
That leaves Goffstown’s Taylor French as the only starting pitcher that Pelletier expects to potentially go a full seven innings, but was pleased with Gendron’s effort, despite him pitching less than three innings heading into Monday’s start.
“He’s very effective in his role,” Pelletier said, adding that Patnode has been an effective relief pitcher.
“The right matchups and mixing up pitchers is how we’re going to have to go,” Pelletier said.
Weare hosts Keene on Wednesday and Lebanon (6-5) on Thursday at St. Anselm’s and will close the regular season with a doubleheader against Sweeney at Gill Stadium on Saturday.
With only six teams in District A and four tournament spots up for grabs, every time still has a shot, including Laconia.
“We still have an outside chance of getting in if we win both games,” Post 1 coach Joe Dee said. “Lebanon is a tough team. Our pitchers have to throw strikes and our players have to hit the ball better than they have the last few weeks.”
“We’re going to be fighting each other until the end,” Pelletier said. “It will be close for sure.”
With a 13-1 record, Concord has secured the top seed in District A.
The Senior Legion State Tournament begins on July 29 at Gill Stadium.