LEBANON — If the current scenario for the Lebanon High baseball team looks familiar, it should. Just about everything that happened to the Raiders last April is recurring this April — save for one important thing.
The record.
Kyle Pelletier posted his second win in as many starts and Lebanon put together back-to-back six-run frames to rout Pelham, 14-1, in a five-inning contest at Eldredge Park on Friday. Pelletier improved to 2-0 on the young season, one in which the Raiders (3-1) have spent most of their time away from their familiar high school diamond.
The same thing happened last spring, Lebanon coach Doug Ashey noted — the Raiders didn’t play their first true home game until May 4, eventually going 3-12 on the season. With their usual home field still slow to dry out from winter snow and spring rain, Lebanon has again made Eldredge a comfortable backup plan.
“This is back-to-back years where we’ve used Eldredge as a home field, so to speak, for the first two or three games,” Ashey said. “There’s a good history with Lebanon and Eldredge, but the kids want to be on their high school field.”
Preseason hitting work has been paying off as well. The Raiders have scored 44 runs in their first four contests, the last two of which have come on their home away from home.
After Pelham (2-2) scored in its first at-bat, Lebanon took over. A two-run second put the Raiders ahead to stay, as an outfield error plated a pair of Lebanon runs in the home second.
The Raiders used their bats to put the game away in the next two innings, both of which featured six-run assaults. Calvin Bates and Pelletier both had two-run hits in the third, and Caleb Smith delivered a pair of runs with a four-inning hit.
Pelletier secured that with five innings of four-hit mound work. The senior struck out three and walked one, facing 22 Pelham batters.
“He’s been really tough, really strong in both outings,” Ashey said. “He’s been a savior for us. Coming into the season, we didn’t have any pitchers with a win at the varsity level yet. He’s really stepped up as a senior and delivered big-time.”
Lebanon next hosts John Stark in a makeup game on Tuesday. It’s supposed to be at the high school. Given the wet forecast for the next few days, it could very well end up back at Eldredge.
It’s worked pretty well so far.