NASHUA, N.H. — Saddle up, y’all. The Lebanon Post 22 senior American Legion baseball bandwagon is accepting riders.
Expect a line for boarding after Friday, when District A’s second-place team lay a 10-3 rout on District B runner-up Rochester Post 7 during a first-round state tournament game at Holman Stadium.
Lebanon, which has had little success at that location over the years, scored five times during the second inning and added four runs in the fourth. It advanced to play at 7 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday night’s game between District B champion Nashua Post 124 and fourth-place District A finisher Laconia Post 1.
Exiting the stadium, Post 22’s Joey Perras wore a straw cowboy hat belonging to teammate Jack Loftus. The rising Hanover High senior, who completed his zany look with wrap-around sunglasses and a mustache, declared the 10-gallon lid good luck and announced it would be worn again to tonight’s affair in the double-elimination event.
“I could feel the vibe before we even got here today and it was a lot different than in other years,” said outfielder and recent Kimball Union Academy graduate Trey Parker, a member of several two-and-out Post 22 squads during previous summers. “We’re all working well together right now. We’ve picked it up in the dugout with the talking and since then, we’ve had bigger hits and guys coming through more often.”
Parker was that guy during the second inning, when he delivered a two-run single to score Derek Griffin and Tyler Bonneau, both of whom walked. Parker’s hit made the score 4-1. Kobe Benoit and Kegan Silovich were hit by pitches to begin Post 22’s at-bat, the former scoring on a Bonneau walk and the latter on a balk.
Parker came home on a Jack Loftus single for a 5-1 lead but their team left the bases loaded, with Benoit and Silovich striking out to end that frame. It didn’t matter, however, for Lebanon busted out again during the fourth.
Parker led off with a ground-rule double and Nolan Gantrish singled. A Loftus single scored both and he moved to second on a throwing error during the play. An Andrew Hadlock ground out moved Loftus to third base, from where he scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Benoit. A Perras single later in the inning scored Benoit for a 9-1 lead.
“Rochester isn’t as strong as they were last year, but they, like everybody here, is a good team,” said Post 22 coach Rob Woodward, whose squad reached the tournament semifinals last summer. “Our guys have been talking and they’re into it and they can hit with the best and play with anybody down here.”
Griffin, a Lebanon High graduate who recently completed his freshman season at Colby-Sawyer College, was removed after 3⅓ innings to keep his pitch count low enough that he can return to the mound on Monday if needed. He allowed three hits and one run while striking out three batters, walking two and hitting one.
“He’s got better location with more than one pitch than he used to,” Woodward said of Griffin, who’s playing his third season of senior Legion ball. “He’s figuring out when to use stuff and how to do it and he’s doing a great job.”
Perras came on for 1⅔ innings of relief and gave up no hits and one run while striking out one and walking two. Trey Chickering pitched the final two innings, surrendering two hits and one run while striking out two and walking one.
There was a Rochester runner on third with one out in the seventh when Griffin, now playing third base, snagged a line drive and stepped on the nearby bag for a conclusive double play.
“Guys who haven’t played as much (in recent years) are coming up big,” said Parker, who’s competing in his sixth consecutive Legion season, junior and senior combined. “Top to bottom, we’ve got depth, especially in the pitching department. It’s a lot better position to be in than we have been in the past.”
Lebanon (13-6) had nine hits, including a double and single by Parker and a pair of singles each from Gantrish and Loftus. Four Post 22 batters were hit by pitches and Chickering, although hitless with two strikeouts in three at-bats, played a smooth center field.
“We can go a little deeper on the bench this year,” said Woodward, noting that if a hurler throws 105 or more pitches during a game, he must receive the next four days off. “It’s nice not to have to ride your starting pitcher all the way through and lose him for the rest of the tournament. Now, we have guys lined up who can go get them again.”
Lebanon won its first two tournament games last summer and was leading a third before it was delayed overnight by rain. A loss in the completed contest the next morning, followed by another setback that night and suddenly the season was over. Parker said he’ll remind his younger teammates of how quickly momentum can turn.
“We can’t ease up and give up a couple runs in a game, because it’s the state tournament and they add up quick,” he said.
Notes: Rochester fell to 10-8. … An electronic pitch counter was situated in an upper deck behind home plate, showing how many throws each team’s current hurler had made. … In a truly amazing sequence, a Rochester foul ball flew towards Post 22 assistant coach Carlos Fleming in the dugout entrance but on-deck hitter Chickering flicked out his bat and dropped the horsehide harmlessly into the grass. Chickering is a hockey standout headed for Proctor Academy in the fall. … Former Woodsville High standout Season May, who was injured to start the summer and gave way to Benoit at shortstop, has quit the team, said Post 22 manager Pete St. Pierre. … Holman Stadium is home to the Nashua Silver Knights of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. … The Post 22 junior team plays in its state tournament next weekend in Salem and will be either the third- or fourth-place team from District A. … In other New Hampshire junior Legion news, Keene has forfeited its season because it used more than six Junior Babe Ruth players during Legion competition. The team was 0-12 before that ruling.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.