WEARE – John Stark entered Tuesday’s game against Laconia in need of not only a win, but a comfortable win. In the midst of five games in six days, the Generals came into the day having lost four of their last five after a 3-0 start.
That five-game stretch, against four teams with a combined record of 29-7, required intense focus from the first pitch until the final out, with every play potentially one that could decide the game’s outcome. Tuesday’s 18-1 win over a Laconia team that’s struggled mightily all season provided an opportunity for some players to regain confidence at the plate and for others who don’t see a ton of action to get some game reps.
Now 5-4 on the season, head coach Dennis Pelletier feels confident with where his group is at. Although the four losses in five games wasn’t ideal, he knew it’d be a difficult stretch for his younger roster. Now, they’ve been able to learn from the experience and can continue plowing ahead toward the playoffs.
Here are three takeaways from where John Stark currently sits:
Things didn’t start out ideally for John Stark on Tuesday; Laconia jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. For a team that’s now 0-8 and has been outscored 102-11, giving them a sense of confidence early could’ve been disastrous. But the Generals seized control in the second inning: Joey Dykstra laced a two-run triple to left, Anthony Paolicelli hit a two-run single to center and Chase Philibotte lined a two-run double to right-center. By the inning’s end, the Generals led 8-1.
“We’ve had a lot of tense games of late,” said Pelletier, who picked up his 100th career win on Tuesday. “Kind of needed one of those games, and to get a lot of other kids some playing time. It’s tough getting kids in baseball games sometimes in those 2-1 games, so it was great to get a lot of people involved.”
Hayden Pond started on the mound for the Generals, tossing four innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out seven.
“He’s got loads of potential,” Pelletier said of his sophomore righthander. “There’s that space to his ceiling that we need to get to. That’ll be great.”
Pelletier’s confident in his top two pitchers, Paolicelli and Philibotte, but when matching up against top teams like Hanover and St. Thomas Aquinas, he probably needs a little more behind them in the bullpen to match up.
Deltyn Williams has thrown the ball well lately, he said, so he could be a key fixture in the bullpen for the stretch run.
And in addition to more pitching depth, Pelletier needs the bats to come around, so when the Generals face those top pitchers, they can give their staff some runs to work with.
“We were hitting the ball, but we weren’t hitting it as hard as I would like,” he said of the offense during the previous five games. “Sometimes the focus drifts a little bit. It’s that maturity thing.”
Pelletier has several areas to be happy about with a young team sitting above .500 midway through the season. But nothing stands out quite like the group’s togetherness.
“The team unity is incredible,” he said. “These boys love each other. Sometimes they’re goofy beyond what I like, and I have to rein them in, but just the fact that they love playing baseball together (is great). My ‘21 team that won the championship was like that. They weren’t as goofy as these guys, but they still had that camaraderie and that love of playing ball together.”
While the offense still needs to turn the corner, and Pelletier would like to see sharper defense and base running, he sees the ingredients for a team that can make a playoff run. After all, he’s less than two years removed from a D-II championship; he would know what it takes to hoist that plaque.
“I think once we get this in motion and get going, I’m going to be very happy with how we’re going to be,” he said. “I don’t worry about losing games this past week. It happens during the regular season. You’re getting your team ready and figuring things out. We figured out a few more things again today, so it was great to see.”