Manchester
Lebanon’s Derek Griffin carried a three-hitter into the fifth frame when the wheels abruptly came off the bus for Post 22, which played as the home team in the win-or-go-home matchup. Sweeney, the eight-team tournament’s host, scorched Griffin and company for seven runs. The Post 2 rally began with a leadoff single by Brody Dupuis, who would go on to score the game’s first run. The outfielder added insult to injury by returning to the plate later in the same inning to drive in the final run of the rally.
“You’ve got to come in here with nine innings,” said Lebanon coach Rob Woodward. “We played eight.”
Lebanon got first-inning walks from Will Smith and Caleb Broughton but left them both stranded on base, starting an unproductive trend that continued throughout the contest. Woodward’s squad left a total of 14 men on base overall, including at least one in every inning except the fifth.
Post 22 — which beat Exeter, 7-5, on Friday and fell to Rochester, 13-3, on Saturday — got its first hit (one of seven on the day) from shortstop Seanon May in the second inning. Will Smith (single) and Matt Braley (double) added hits in the third before teammate Dashiel Fukushima was hit by a Connor Lyons pitch to load the bases for Kyle Hammond, who popped out to second.
Lebanon (12-7), which stole four bases in the first two innings, got great defense from second baseman Broughton, who recorded all three outs in the fourth inning. The first came on a shoestring, line-drive catch and the others via an unassisted double play.
Sweeney — which lost to Nashua, 8-5, then defeated Merrimack, 5-3, prior to Sunday’s elimination game — erupted in the fifth frame for seven runs on seven hits while sending 11 men to the plate .
“It was quick,” Smith said. “It all happens quick. That’s kind of baseball; you can be up now and then down the next inning. We needed to have a big inning like they just did, and we couldn’t pull it out.”
Lebanon went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but looked like it could muster a comeback during its next time up. Fukushima kicked off a bizarre series of events with a leadoff walk in the sixth. Next to the plate was pinch-hitter Keegan Silovich, who reached on a fielder’s choice that sent Fukushima back to the dugout. Cedric Elkouh followed with a walk, May popped out and catcher Henry Day drew a walk, loading the bases for Smith, Post 22’s leadoff hitter.
Sweeney went on to commit a key error during the Smith at-bat that would sink its shutout bid. Post 2 catcher Dan Schesser accidently overthrew relief pitcher Matt Reynolds on a routine toss back to the mound, allowing Silovich to score from third after narrowly beating a throw to the plate. Unfortunately for Lebanon, Elkouh got caught in a subsequent pickle between second and third and the brief rally was halted.
Entitled to a fresh at-bat to lead off the seventh, Smith singled up the middle but got thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. The center fielder’s unlucky day continued in the eighth when he grounded out with the bases loaded.
Sweeney, which will play Nashua today back at Gill, added three insurance runs in its eighth inning.
Nevertheless, Woodward was positive at the conclusion of the summer season.
“We had a decent season,” Woodward said. “We rolled over a lot of guys; a lot of young guys came in. Whenever you can do that, get to this tournament and win a game in the tournament, I think you’ve had a pretty good season.”
Notes: Friday’s victory over Exeter was Lebanon’s first state tournament victory in three years. … Broughton was awarded the tournament’s scholarship award (he was one of two applicants) just prior to the game’s first pitch. … Griffin was relieved by Elkouh after 4⅔ innings. Elhouh pitched 3 ⅔, later giving way to Eli Jaynes, who closed out the Post 22 campaign.