LEBANON — He might have earned a case of the shivers, and the seventh inning might have made him nervous, but Doug Ashey probably wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else but on his old baseball diamond on Monday afternoon.
The late Lebanon High coach was as much on his former players’ minds as on their hats as the Raiders opened their season with a 9-7 win over Mascoma. Ashey died following a short battle with cancer about 18 months ago, and Lebanon (1-0) never got a chance to properly honor him when last spring’s season was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Raiders came out in new caps on Monday with Ashey’s initials stitched inside a baseball on the right-hand side. They then let a 2-0 lead get away before overwhelming the Royals (0-1) with three multi-run rallies over their last three at-bats.
“He’s somebody that brought me up here in 2016 and gave me the opportunity with Lebanon,” first-year Raider coach Chauncey Wood said. “He’s in every one of our thoughts every time we step on this field.
“He was somebody that the kids loved, and he loved this game so much. He’s greatly missed, and we’re going to keep him in our thoughts all year.”
On a raw afternoon punctuated by chilly gusts of wind blowing into the dugouts, Lebanon responded quickly and decisively to the visitors’ three-run fourth inning reversal.
Senior Zach Howland had three hits and drove in three runs to power the Raiders. Calvin Bates, one of just two returning seniors on a youthful Lebanon roster, doubled twice on a three-hit afternoon and scored three runs.
“I’m pretty excited with their effort,” Mascoma coach Dave Isom said. “We’ve got a really small team, and we need to show up every day like we did today. Lebanon’s a pretty good school, they’re traditionally really good, and it was a good first test for us.”
The Raiders got on the board first, nicking Mascoma starter Josh Evans (6⅔ innings, five strikeouts, five walks) for two runs in the home second. Bates doubled to right and advanced on a wild pitch, Jon Carrier singled and stole second base, and both came home on the first of Howland’s three right-field singles on the afternoon.
“He’s always been somebody who hits it to the opposite field,” Wood said of Howland. “But once he gets his timing down, he’ll be able to pull it to the gaps.”
Mascoma took a 3-2 lead on senior Joe Roberts, Lebanon’s second pitcher of the day, with back-to-back-to-back hits in the fourth. James Thomas singled, Josh Evans doubled and Mike Evans delivered both with a ringing two-run triple to right. T.J. Mardin’s slow roller to the deep shortstop hole brought in Mike Evans to give the Royals the lead.
With help from Howland, Lebanon came right back in the home fourth. Carrier and Howland singled to open the frame. A Ryan Tanski sacrifice bunt eluded charging Mascoma first baseman Zach Thompson for an error that plated Carrier. Francis Calandrella’s RBI force grounder brought in Howland to put Lebanon up for good.
Braeden Falzarano walked, moved up on an infield hit from Bates, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to start the fifth for Lebanon, and Bates made it 6-3 on Howland’s third single of the game. A three-run sixth — thanks to RBIs from Falzarano, Bates and Carrier — upped the edge to 9-4.
“Some of the guys have been keeping up on things,” Isom said. “We’ve got some strong arms. Josh Evans went 119 pitches today. We had a pretty good off-season program for what we’re allowed to do. And we’ve got other guys who can pitch over 75 pitches right now. We’ve just got some guys who haven’t played in general in a long time, and they’re showing up.”
Mascoma did just that in the top of the seventh to throw some doubt into the mix.
Howland had a feast-or-famine relief stint, striking out the side but also issuing three walks. An infield error allowed Cayden Marquay and Thomas to score and a wild pitch later delivered Mike Evans (three runs) from third, but Howland settled down to fan Mardin looking to end the contest.
“We’ve got a lot to work to do,” Wood said. “It’s early in the season. Some of these guys haven’t played baseball in a year, year and a half, so there’s definitely some things we’ve got to work on. But they’re coming out and having fun, so we’ll go from there.”
Their late coach wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Fungoes: Falzarano got the mound start for Lebanon, throwing 30 pitches and exiting in favor of Roberts after two frames. “We want to progress him slowly, let him get into the long runs,” Wood said. “He’s just somebody that wants to take it slow. We respect that.” … Roberts got the win, scattering six hits, striking out three and walking two over four innings. Bates, the catcher, was a big help, throwing out one of two would-be base stealers and picking another Royal wandering off first base. … The teams meet again in West Canaan on Wednesday.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.