BOW, N.H. — Fine, powdery particles descended over Bow High’s beautiful baseball diamond on Saturday, leaving a thin film on everything from hat brims to camera lenses to drink coolers.
The haze seemed to act as pixie dust for Hanover, the Bears ripping balls all over the wooded clearing en route to a 12-2, six-inning victory in the NHIAA Division II quarterfinals.
“We had people from the top to the bottom of the order stepping up today,” said catcher John Hill, who belted a single and two doubles and had four RBIs. “But we also have a lot to thank in our pitching.”
Hurlers Sam Sacerdote and Jake Toulmin combined on a five-hitter and their 13-4 team advanced to a Wednesday night semifinal against top-seeded Hollis-Brookline (16-1) at Concord’s Memorial Field. The visiting Cavaliers won the teams’ regular-season meeting, 6-2, on May 5.
Bow (13-5) was the division’s fourth-place team during the regular season but certainly didn’t look it Saturday. The Falcons struggled on the mound from the start, using four pitchers. They committed two scored errors but also made mental mistakes and overthrew cutoff men against fifth-seeded Hanover.
“We capitalized on their mistakes and the game plan for Wednesday is to keep it close as long as we can and hope we get similar chances,” said Hanover coach John Grainger.
Defensively, the Bears overcame first-inning struggles by second baseman Ian Hedgepeth and looked sharp in the field. Shortstop Casey Graham, who scuffled a bit early in this, his first season at the position, fielded and threw well. First baseman Colin Pierce snagged a sharp grounder and cut down a runner trying for second base. Hanover’s longstanding policy of shifting its infield against lefthanded batters led to three outs.
“I’ve been burned once since we started doing it in 2018,” Grainger said of the shift, which places three fielders to the right of second base. “If there isn’t a runner on second base, we always do it.
“With Sam, he has a curveball and a slider that both break inside to lefties. We just stay away from outside fastballs they can hit the other way.”
Hanover took batting practice 80 minutes before the first pitch, which Grainger said is notably earlier than usual for a visiting team. He was a bit worried about the longer down time and his players becoming distracted, but that certainly wasn’t the case.
The Bears scored twice during the first inning, Jackson McBride leading off with a single and Hedgepeth following with a double. A Sacerdote sacrifice fly brought McBride home and a Hill double plated Hedgepeth. The Falcons trailed, 2-1, after their initial at-bat.
McBride walked and Hedgepeth singled to begin the visitors’ third plate appearance. Again, a Sacerdote sacrifice fly and a Hill double brought them home.
A throwing error, a walk and a Joe Davis RBI single helped push Hanover’s lead to 7-1 and effectively ended the game.
The Bears scored four more times during the fourth inning and once again during the sixth. McBride finished with two hits and two RBIs, Graham with two hits and an RBI and Hedgepeth with two hits.
“We just hit the stuffing out of the ball,” Grainger said. “Even our outs were loud. We batted nine players in two straight innings. I tell our guys that baseball is won on big innings, which is why we hardly ever bunt.”
Sacerdote had a hit and two RBIs. On the mound, he allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out striking out three Falcons and walking one during four innings.
With his top speeds approaching 80 mph and no outrageous breaking pitches, the junior righthander was nonetheless efficient and accurate, throwing 58 pitches – 39 for strikes.
“I’ve never seen a pitcher as mentally strong as Sam,” Hill said. “Nothing fazes him. Runners on base, whatever the other team’s saying, errors. He’s always going to be focused and keeping us in the game.”
Grainger said Sacerdote will be fully available for the semifinals following nearly four days of rest.
He’s joined in the Bears’ arsenal by senior Wes Stocken, who beat Milford during the first round, Toulmin and Trevor Pierce.
“We have so many seniors and some of them have had a lot of success in other sports, so they’re not nervous in pressure situations,” Grainger said. “But the rest of the teams left are all scary in various ways.”
Said Hill: “We’re a tight-knit team and this year feels like something special with 10 of us graduating. Hopefully, we can carry this through for another two games.”
Notes: Hanover’s players direct no taunts or jeers at opponents. “We try to stay positive and reasonable and just get loud for our batters,” Hill said. “We try to stay away from bush-league stuff because it doesn’t help you win ball games and it doesn’t make you any friends.”… The Bears program raised $12,440 online during the month of April via 163 separate donations. The largest donation was $1,500… Hedgepeth forgot his glove and used a teammate’s leather during the first inning. His own mitt arrived shortly thereafter… Former Hanover player Ben Williams, now a junior at Connecticut prep school Avon Old Farms, is home for a break and was on the bench Saturday, helping his friends analyze the game and strategize. Williams said he’s casting an eye at UConn and Boston College for his college ball and will again play this summer for a high-level, U17 club team, the New England Ruffnecks, out of Weston, Mass. He and Sacerdote played for that squad last summer and will again share an apartment in town, along with one of their parents… Bears assistant coach Michael Goodrich missed the game to watch his son, Charlie, a former Hanover player, row for the Naval Academy in the national championships in New Jersey. Charlie Goodrich recently graduated from the Annapolis, Md., school.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.