Manchester
Post 22 had ridden Parker’s right arm for much of the afternoon. The rising senior at Kimball Union Academy allowed two hits and two runs during 5⅔ innings while striking out six batters and walking three. He threw 43 of his allowed 105 pitches during the first two innings of the seven-inning contest. Starting this season, all senior Legion playoff games are that length in an effort to avoid pitching depletion and to match high school contests.
Post 22, the second seed in District A, beat District B’s third-place finisher and advanced to face District B’s fourth-place team, Merrimack Post 98, which defeated District A champion Concord Post 21, 3-0, on Friday night.
Lebanon and Merrimack clash at 7 tonight at Gill in the double-elimination tournament.
“Maybe I need to start warming up a little more, because I’m not getting into a groove this season until, like, the third inning,” said Parker, his cap, hair and uniform soaked after cooling himself with water during a hot and humid afternoon. “I couldn’t get a grip on the ball and I was throwing it all over the place the first few innings.”
Said coach Rob Woodward: “He needs to work more in the bullpen and get rid of a little (energy). A lot of kids think they’re ready and then they get hit with a blast (of adrenaline) in the first inning and it’s ball one and ball two and balls all over the place.
“We need our guys to lock it down in the first inning so they can last the game in under 105 pitches.”
Friday’s game started horribly for Lebanon (9-7), which has yet to win a state Legion title and hasn’t recently had much tournament success. Nashua’s leadoff hitter reached first base on a fielding error by shortstop Season May and then stole second.
The next man up grounded back to Parker, who air-mailed a throw past first baseman Andrew Hadlock, allowing a run to score and the batter to reach third base. A run-scoring single was followed by a one-out walk, and Woodward had a reliever up in the bullpen. Parker kicked up dust clouds on the mound and stood for a time with his head down and his hands on his hips.
“I’m not a coach who likes to get down five runs in the first inning and play catch-up,” Woodward said. “You need to be throwing strikes and if you don’t, I got somebody coming in back of you.”
Parker escaped the jam by inducing a fly out and a ground out. Post 22 answered during its first at-bat with a three-run rally, sparked when Nate Perkins reached second base on a two-out ground ball and a throwing error by the third baseman. Hadlock walked and Kegan Silovich’s fielder’s choice loaded the bases.
A wild pitch scored Perkins and moved Hadlock and Silovich to second and third base. They both scored on another throwing error by Nashua’s man at the hot corner, and the contest’s scoring was concluded.
Parker took over from there, retiring 14 of the next 16 batters before an error and a walk put two Nashua runners on base and got him to the pitch-count limit. Parker gave way to Dashiel Fukushima with two outs in the sixth inning.
Fukushima, a recent Rivendell Academy graduate, surrendered a single to load the bases before a fly out ended the scare. Nashua (11-6) produced three consecutive fly outs in the seventh to end the contest.
“Last year we won one game here and the two years before, we were two losses and out,” said Parker, who’s in his fourth year in the Post 22 organization. “We have to come to hit and if we do, I’m pretty confident we can win the next game, too.”
Lebanon’s two hits were singles by Perkins and Hadlock.
Notes: All of Lebanon’s 17 players bat and throw righthanded. … Lebanon’s Jeremy Sigl, a KUA student, is out with an apparent wrist injury, given the presence of a cast on the joint. … Fukushima’s middle name is Merton. … Colby-Sawyer College coach Jim Broughton, who recently completed his 24th season with the Chargers, attended the game. His son, Caleb, is a former Post 22 player who now attends Bucknell (Pa.) University and who played summer ball in the New York Collegiate Baseball League for the Hornell Dodgers. Listed as a second baseman, Caleb Broughton batted .271 with 12 RBIs in 34 games. Hornell was 15-27. … Gill Stadium, built in 1913, features an aging artificial turf field with a metal mound. The hump is covered in fake turf except for a dirt strip up the center. Parker said a stake pinning the rubber to the mound was exposed during the game, causing him to frequently slip. Manchester officials have been discussing replacement of the field surface for some time. It was hot enough Friday that Parker said he could feel uncomfortable warmth through his cleats.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.