Manchester
“I know a lot of people are unhappy with how it ended, and they should be,” said Sunapee coach Tom Frederick, whose team also lost in last season’s division title game. “But tip your cap to Littleton. We had some chances to score runs early, and we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Littleton (20-0) scored the tying run in the seventh inning on Will Austin’s bases-loaded walk to C.J. Kezerian. The next batter, Kuba Kubowski, was hit by a pitch to end the game.
To say Austin and his teammates and coaches were unhappy with the home plate umpire would be a massive understatement. The Crusaders drew four walks during the final frame.
“If I say anything I really want to say, I’ll probably be suspended for two games,” said Frederick. “The guys were having to try and serve it up on a platter … and getting too careful throwing pitches.”
Sunapee (18-2) scored the game’s first two runs during the first inning. Leadoff man Mike Platt was hit by a pitch and Austin followed with a triple. Ben Robinson walked and Cole Cruz lofted a sacrifice fly. Memories of last week’s semifinal victory, in which the Lakers scored five times in the first, came flooding back.
And then, no more. Sunapee stranded six runners, two each in the first, second and fifth frames. No. 8 hitter Nick Ducharme doubled in the fourth but stumbled and fell rounding the center sack and was tagged out. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Robinson was slowly losing his edge.
“He just ran out of gas and said he didn’t have his best,” Frederick said. “So we went with guys who have done it all year.”
Frederick pulled Robinson with one out and one run during the sixth inning. The Crusaders had scored by producing a leadoff double and a one-out single. Cruz trotted to the mound from center field and hit the first batter he faced. However, he struck out the next two.
In the seventh, however, Sunapee went down in order and Cruz walked the first man he faced on four consecutive balls. That player was sacrificed to second base on a bunt and another walk followed. Frederick brought in Austin, who had begun the game at catcher before moving to center field to replace Cruz.
The senior hurler induced a ground ball to shortstop that erased the runner moving from first base but moved the lead runner to third. A walk loaded the bases. Another walk drove in the tying run and brought Kubowksi to the plate. Austin gestured in frustration at the umpire, who had earlier in the game been the target of unhappy cries from the Littleton dugout.
“The pressure was on, but I was in the moment and we just got (cheated),” Austin said. “They were just crowding the plate to try and get hit or walked. They weren’t trying for a hit, and the umpire didn’t call strikes.
“It sucks how that last inning ended, but that’s the way it is. We didn’t finish how we should have and they, I guess, deserved it.”
Frederick managed composure but looked like he wasn’t sure the situation was quite real.
“We missed signs, and we sent three bunts right back to the pitcher,” he said. “If you don’t execute the little things on this stage, you’re not going to win. We rose to the challenge right up to the last inning, and then some things started to change.
“All the kids were under a little bit of pressure. You’re winning, 2-0, going into the last inning, and you’re thinking you’re three outs away. Then, at the end, you just couldn’t finish it.”
Each team had four hits. Sunapee’s came from Austin, Cade Robinson, Ducharme and Platt. Ben Robinson allowed no hits through three innings but four combined during the next four frames.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.