BY SAPNA PATHAK
Following a 5-0 loss in this year’s Class I baseball tournament, Ben Forbes knew exactly what hurt his team. He’d seen it hamper his players all season.
“Too much thinking and not enough swinging,” is how the Bow High head coach described the problem that’s troubled his lineup this year. So, strong pitching and a solid defense weren’t enough to push the Falcons past fourth-seeded Monadnock in a first-round playoff game on May 31.
“It’s absolutely hurt us this season,” said Forbes. “It’s been the theme of our year. We’ve had good pitching, if not great, in 12 or 13 of our 16 games, and the kids would go up and not be aggressive. That’s not going to win games.”
The Falcons hit .250 as a team this year, something Forbes said he’ll use as motivation for an offseason regimen that’s sure to include plenty of time in the batting cages.
Against the Huskies, Bow didn’t muster a hit until the top of the seventh inning. Andrew Knight broke up the Monadnock no-hitter with a single to lead off the frame, and Josh Kleinberg followed with the Falcons’ second safety.
Bow earned the eighth-seed in last year’s postseason due in part to timely hitting. But it didn’t continue in 2007, causing the squad to enter this year’s tournament as the 13th seed.
“They were shutting us down the whole time,” said Forbes. “Once we stopped being too tentative and taking so many pitches, we were able to string together a couple of hits. I know the power is there, we just have to change our approach for next year.”
Losing just one senior in pitcher Eric Fortin, the Falcons return their entire lineup, plus a slew of talented sophomores moving up from the junior varsity squad.
“Really, there were no expectations other than a lot of people thought we’d go in and get beat up,” said Forbes. “We had an up-and-down season, but with such a big group coming back, we should be able to come together next year. There’s definitely things we need to work on, but we’ll clear it up in the summer so we’re not doing the same things wrong again.”