MANCHESTER — A second straight outstanding performance on the mound powered the Upper Valley Anglers 19Us to the New Hampshire COVID Baseball League semifinals on Saturday.
Brendan Walker threw a complete-game two-hitter with six strikeouts, sending the Anglers past New Hampshire Prospects White, 2-1, at the Derryfield School. The victory gave the fourth-seeded Anglers (13-9) a two-game sweep of their best-of-three quarterfinal series over the Prospects (9-13), who managed just four hits against Upper Valley arms in the two contests.
Walker (Woodsville High) threw to more than four batters in an inning only once in a solid performance. His offense, held to just two hits by Prospects pitcher Connor Abood (Timberlane), did just enough in support.
Catcher Jack Loftus (Hanover) got Upper Valley on the board in the top of the second inning. Loftus drew a walk from Abood, stole second base and scored on back-to-back sacrifices from Nolan Gantrish (Hanover) and Koby Benoit (Lebanon), the latter an RBI fly out to center.
Walker got in trouble in the home second, issuing three walks and a hitting a batter to force in the tying run. NHP’s Chris Keefe (Nashua South) then singled to open the home third, but the next 12 Prospects went down in order as Walker took over. Walker finished the game by retiring 15 of the last 16 NHP batters he faced.
The Upper Valley pitcher helped himself by scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth. Walker drew a one-out walk, coming home three batters later on a bases-full grounder from Keegan Silovich (Hanover).
Sam Sacerdote (Hanover) tossed six innings of one-hit relief in Friday’s opening game, a 4-1 Upper Valley win at Lebanon High School.
The Anglers will meet either the top-seeded Concord Cannons or the eighth-ranked Nashua Defenders in a best-of-three semifinal beginning on Tuesday evening.