BY RYAN O'CONNOR
Last year, the Jutras American Legion baseball team had to win a one-game playoff to reach the postseason and finished with 11 wins, including the added match-up.
This year’s team, predominantly Bedford and Goffstown players, has 12 victories in division play, but must still claw for a tournament berth.
Jutras is 12-4 in Division B, behind only top-seeded Keene and one-half game ahead of Nashua, which it beat on July 21, 15-3.
But Milford is 10-5 and Derry is 11-6, so to guarantee a postseason bid, Jutras must win one of its final two games.
“Thirteen wins will definitely get us in, but right now, the only thing we’ve secured is a tie for fourth,” said manager Bob Bournival, who noted that unlike last year, there is a clear dichotomy between the level of competition at the top and bottom of the division.
The locals were scheduled to play Milford on Wednesday, July 25, and Keene to close out the regular season on Saturday, July 28.
Still, following the home blowout of Nashua, in which Jutras scored 11 runs in one inning with two outs and compiled 21 total hits, the team boasted a 12-2 record with four games remaining.
But Bournival said his team lost its focus the following day against Hudson, which isn’t competing for a postseason spot.
“I could tell, even before the game, the kids were too laid back,” he said. “They had won 12 in a row in the division and, I think, were feeling a little invincible.”
Leading 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, consecutive errors aided Hudson in plating the game-tying and go-ahead runs. Jutras lost, 4-3.
On Tuesday, July 24, Derry, on the brink of playoff elimination, held Jutras batters to five hits, defeating the locals, 7-3, at Pinkerton Academy.
“We just didn’t hit. It doesn’t matter how much you prep kids, it doesn’t always work out the way you’d like,” he said. “I think we took for granted that 12 wins would get us in, and there has been a little bit of a letdown.
“Hopefully, we will be OK, but we’re definitely in a little bit of a funk,” Bournival continued. “I think these two games were a wake-up call to get us into the mentality that we must win to get in.”
The key may be as simple as his hitters being more patient with batters in scoring position, said the manager. Overall, however, he said he is pleased with the offense.
Bedford’s Greg DelGuidice leads the team with a .492 on-base percentage, and is second on the team in batting average, hitting .365, behind Bedford’s Nick Travelyn, batting .398.
On the mound, Jon Nelson, also of Bedford, leads the team with 30 strikeouts and three victories to complement a 2.12 ERA.