MANCHESTER – Weare Post 65 needed a road trip to navigate its way out of a slump.
Coming off an 11-1 humbling at the hands of Lebanon, the Weare Senior American Legion baseball team traveled to Pawtucket, R.I., last weekend to compete in the OPS Shamrock Classic and coach Dennis Pelletier saw his team begin to click.
“We were kind of struggling before we played in the tournament,” Pelletier said. “We had 11 kids show up out of our 16 and we just kind of jelled over the weekend. We played a lot of baseball.”
Post 65 beat Lebanon on Monday and continued the winning ways Wednesday after holding on for a 3-2 victory over Keene Post 4 in a District A matchup at Saint Anselm College’s Sullivan Park.
Gunner Hagstrom struck out six over the final four innings to earn the win after Weare (3-2 in District A) received three shutout innings from Cam Bergeron to open the game.
“We went with a Rays approach today with an opener,” Pelletier said. “(Bergeron) was supposed to pitch two innings. He pitched so well he went three.”
The offense made life easier on Bergeron by staking him a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Nathan Innerfield (2-for-2, stolen base) stroked a one-out single to left field and came around to score when Brett Patnode fouled off several two-strike pitches before eventually lifting an RBI single to right-center field.
Much like his coach, Patnode is pleased with the team’s recent string of performances.
“It was a slow start for the whole team, me included, but I’ve been seeing the ball well lately,” said Patnode, who went 2-for-3 Wednesday. “Tournaments are great because it builds team chemistry and I just have fun with the boys.”
Aaron Robertson singled home Brady Philibotte to give Weare a 2-0 edge through three innings. Philibotte was among the players to start surging over the weekend and he carried the hot streak into Sullivan Park.
The leadoff man belted a double to the left-field wall to score Carter Pike in the fifth, providing Weare with what turned out to be the game-deciding run.
“My shortstop, Philibotte, is on fire right now,” Pelletier said. “He’s 15 years old and can’t even drive a car yet. He was playing against 19-year-old college commits this weekend and was doing the same thing.”
Keene (0-5) scored both of its runs in the sixth, with Logan Thatcher accounting for the lone hit. A pair of Weare errors put a damper on what had been a stellar defensive outing, but Tyler Gendron’s sliding catch in right field with runners at first and second prevented further damage.
Gendron, who went to Milford High School but lived in Henniker for much of his childhood, has taken on a leadership role as a collegiate player on the squad.
“He’s the guy now. He has taken that role and thrived with it,” Pelletier said. “He’s been our emotional, pump-up guy.”
Weare thwarted a major Keene opportunity in the fourth inning. Hagstrom relieved Bergeron after the latter allowed a leadoff walk to start the frame. Dan Heise greeted Hagstrom with a single to put runners at the corners, but he was quickly erased by Hagstrom on quick pickoff move.
“It just comes down to execution,” Keene coach Rick Stromgren said. “You have to make the plays when they’re there for you, and we didn’t.”
Eric Chase grounded to first, but Patnode – a star pitcher – came up throwing and gunned down Thatcher after Robertson applied the tag.
“It’s a secret weapon,” Pelletier said of Patnode. “Most first basemen can’t make that throw. It’s a luxury to have that kid in that situation.”
Robertson was part of another defensive gem in the fifth inning when he threw out Tanner Payne trying to steal thanks to some impressive improvisation from Pike, who took the throw in front of the bag and reached between his legs to make the tag as Payne slid behind him.
Keene managed a two-out walk in the seventh, but Hagstrom fielded a bouncer back to the mound to end it.
“It was a little sloppy at times, but good teams find a way to win,” Patnode said. “We’ve been playing some good baseball lately, so it’s a good team win.”
Weare will try to pick up another win at Merrimack on Thursday.
(Jason Orfao can be reached at jorfao@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JasonOrfao.)