NASHUA – Baseball is more than a sport to Cam McGonigle. For him and his teammates, it’s a community, a family. So when Concord Post 21 stepped onto the diamond at Holman Stadium for Tuesday’s New Hampshire American Senior Legion State Tournament championship game, the players knew who they were playing for.
Ryan McGonigle, a former Post 21 player and Concord Little League and Babe Ruth coach, passed away on Sunday night due to a heart attack, just hours after Concord Post 21 won on Sunday evening to punch its ticket to the final.
An uncle to Cam, a stepfather to Trevor Smith, a childhood friend to head coach Nate Craigue and a friend, mentor, coach and beloved relative to so many others, his passing is felt deeply by Concord Post 21.
The club put its grief aside to focus – as best it could – on baseball. Cam McGonigle pitched five innings and had the game-winning RBI as Post 21 came away with a 5-3 victory over Londonderry Post 27 to claim Concord’s first state title since 2012.
“He was a great guy,” McGonigle said of his uncle. “No one wanted us to win this more than he did. This was all for him. He mentored us; he taught us.”
Post 21 went undefeated in the tournament, beating Dover Post 8, 3-2; Portsmouth Post 6, 3-2; and Londonderry on Sunday, 7-5, to advance to the championship.
Concord never trailed in any of those games. That changed when Post 27’s Jet Jones (2-for-2) had a two-run single to score Ben Martin and Adam Wholley (2-for-3) to put Londonderry up, 2-0, in the top of the second inning.
McGonigle allowed just two runs, three hits, walked no batters and had a strikeout in 5⅔ innings of work. He hadn’t pitched all tournament and had only made a couple relief appearances during district play and during the high school baseball season.
But wearing an armband bearing Ryan McGonigle’s name and “21 Forever” – his uncle’s jersey number – McGonigle had more than enough motivation to keep Londonderry off the board the rest of the way.
“Every time I stepped on the mound and threw a strike, I got right back up there and just kept pumping, kept that adrenaline going,” McGonigle said. “(Ryan) was always up there in the stands coaching me and supporting me. He was my biggest supporter.”
Strong pitching had been the signature of this year’s Concord Post 21 squad, but McGonigle wasn’t originally going to start.
“I wasn’t going to start him, but he wanted the ball,” Craigue said. “I’ve known Cam since he was 5. And I trusted him. … I can’t give (Cam and Trevor) enough credit. What they did was unbelievable, for them to keep their composure and be able to focus for two hours.”
Post 27 pitcher Connor Fennell (eight strikeouts) hit Ryan Kastle with a pitch to lead off the top of the third and walked Mike Stoddard. Smith smacked a double deep into the outfield to bring Kastle home for Concord’s first run. Smith and Nater Wachter (reached on a fielder’s choice) both scored on a Londonderry infield error off a Dawson Fancher grounder to give Concord a 3-2 lead.
Wachter connected on a double in the fifth inning, and McGonigle followed with a double that fell just a few feet short of the wall to bring Wachter home for a 4-2 lead, a run that would hold up as the game-winner.
Londonderry’s Owen Carey led off the top of the sixth with a single, and tournament MVP Jack Marshall reached on a Post 21 infield error to put two on with no outs, leading to a pitching change. McGonigle left the mound to a standing ovation from the large contingent of Concord fans who made the drive to Nashua.
Londonderry’s Kevin Rourke grounded out for the first out, but Justin Dickson sent a high fly ball into center field at the next at-bat. Kastle fully extended for a diving catch for the second out and fired a throw all the way from the outfield to home plate. Carey scored to cut Concord’s lead to 4-3 before the throw reached home, but it gave Post 21 catcher Kalan Gaudreault plenty of time to set up a throw to third baseman Dawson Fancher, who tagged out another baserunner to complete the double play.
Kastle singled home Gaudreault in the sixth inning for an insurance run to make it 5-3.
Londonderry threatened to force extra innings, maybe even take the title out of Concord’s grasp at the last moment, as Post 21’s Kyle Martin took over on the mound in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and no outs. Martin made a huge play at the plate, tagging out a Londonderry runner at home for the first out, before forcing a fly out and ground out to get the save and secure Concord’s title.
Post 21 hoisted the trophy and held the championship banner in front of a large, animated Concord crowd.
“(Ryan McGonigle has) been my coach as long as I can remember,” Smith said. “Look at all the people that came out just for him. For us to be able to do this to him, man, it means the world to us. This one is for him.”
Smith, along with Cam McGonigle, Kastle and Stoddard, were all on the 2018 Concord Babe Ruth 13-15 team that Ryan McGonigle coached that went to the Babe Ruth World Series in Longview, Wash.
“He probably coached 12 years of Little League for his kids, his four boys,” Craigue said. “I’ve known Ryan since I was 10 years old. We played in the city championship versus each other. After that, we played Babe Ruth together, Concord High (baseball) together, Post 21 together, Concord football together, Concord basketball together.”
There’s a lot of options for baseball players at this level, but for this group of players, representing their community was something special.
“This is my fourth year in the American Legion program at Post 21,” Kastle said. “This crew of kids, there’s nobody better. … It means more than anything to get that win today.
“We go deep. It’s a family. Everyone wants to show up and play every single day. Everybody knows their role, even the guys who don’t get a lot of playing time. The energy is crazy on the bench. They help us keep the momentum going during games like this.”
Post 21 hopes to keep that momentum going when Concord represents the Granite State at the Northeast regional tournament Aug. 3-8 in Shrewsbury, Mass.
“(The emotion and grief) is not going anywhere,” Craigue said. “(Ryan) is a very loved guy.”