BEDFORD – It’s been a good couple of years for Concord baseball. The Concord High School team won the state championship in 2021, Concord Post 21 won the state title last week, and Concord Little League’s Intermediate 50/70 Division team advanced to the state championship in its inaugural season.
You can add Concord Little League’s 11-12 year old All-Stars to that list.
Concord picked up a big 6-5 win over Goffstown Junior Baseball on Sunday at Bedford’s John Ho Sang Field to force a deciding Game 3 in the best-of-three Little League majors championship series.
Saturday’s Game 1 did not go the way Concord had planned, it didn’t even go a full six innings.
Goffstown hit well up and down the lineup and pitcher Owen Dutton (4.2 innings, nine strikeouts, one walk, four hits allowed) shut down Concord’s offense.
Rhys Craigue (2-for-3) led off the top of the first with a double, Henry Thresher (2-for-3) hit a single and Jacob Plodzik loaded the bases by drawing a walk, but that was as close to plating a run as Concord would get.
A Hunter Uhlmann RBI single and an error later on the same play gave Goffstown a lead after the first inning, Evan Dionne (3-for-4, two doubles, three RBI, two runs) smacked a two-run double in the second, Carter Smedick (2-for-4, two runs, two RBI) hit another two-run double in the fifth and an RBI single to center field from Chris Centorino (1-for-3, run) later in the frame closed out a 10-0 Goffstown win in five innings via the mercy rule.
“Our theme of the year has been ‘next pitch, next play, next game’ and our kids have been good about that,” Concord head coach Jon Connor said.
Concord showed why in Game 2, taking a 6-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by Plodzik (2-for-2) belting a two-run homer on just the third at bat of the game and Finn Gfroerer (2-for-2, run, RBI) getting a big hit with two outs to keep the rally going.
“It was the momentum we needed,” Connor said. “We definitely are capable of playing better.”
Henry Thresher (double), Drew Mercier, Nolan Walsh and Will Simms also had hits.
Dionne (3-for-4, two RBI), Smedick (2-for-4, run, RBI), Dutton (two-run single) and Luke Napierkowski (two hits) helped Goffstown plate four runs in the top of the second inning to cut Concord’s lead to 6-4 in the top of the second inning and Goffstown added one more in the fifth, but Thresher was solid on the mound, holding the opposition to five hits, while striking out three, in 4.2 innings of work.
The fielding was also crisper in Game 2 for Concord, with just two errors being committed, as opposed to the five in Game 1.
“Our defense let us down a little bit (in Game 1),” Connor said. “That’s what we’d been priding ourselves on through the year. We play pretty good defense, but it got away from us. The kids had a completely different attitude (in Game 2). We’re not nearly as tight as we had been on Saturday.”
Connor also highlighted his pitching staff as a strength of the club. Simms threw three strikeouts in 4.1 innings in Game 1, while Thresher “was as dominant as he has been all tournament,” in Game 2.
On the other side, Goffstown prides itself with its powerful bats and depth at the plate. Goffstown connected for 12 hits in Game 1 and six in Game 2, with contributions from all around the lineup.
Case in point, No. 9 hitter Luke Napierkowski went 3-for-3, scoring a pair of runs in Game 1, while also getting two hits in Game 2.
“It’s starting to be consistent,” Goffstown head coach Pat Dutton said. “At the beginning of pool play it wasn’t as much, but they just gelled. They work really hard and it shows. I think that’s one of our better aspects, it’s hitting. No. 1 through No. 11. They can hit, all of them.”
Overcoming a strong opponent after a loss isn’t new to Concord. In District 2 play, Portsmouth beat Concord 8-5 in an early round, but Concord won the next meeting 1-0 on a walkoff double and finished off Portsmouth, 4-1, in a third meeting to claim the District 2 championship.
“This is a three-game series for a reason,” Connor said. “It’s not a one-and-done. We’ve earned the right to be here. They’ve earned the right to be here. Resiliency is a mark we’ve played by all season.”
Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at 5:45 p.m. at John Ho Sang Field in Bedford. The winner will represent New Hampshire at the New England Regional tournament in Bristol, Conn.