BY RYAN O'CONNOR
Rain postponed the Fourth of July Fireworks show in the Capital City to July 5, forcing the District 1 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-star tournament game between Concord National and Bow to change venues.
In Bow, however, there were no fireworks for the last-minute hosts.
Though Jack Yvars continued his mound dominance, pitching his third consecutive complete game, along with four strikeouts, he failed to throw a third straight shutout.
Yvars held National to five hits, but two were home runs, and his team was unable to overcome a similarly dominant performance from Concord’s ace, Cam Alosa.
Bow lost, 4-1, and was eliminated from the District 1 tournament.
“They didn’t beat us to badly. We held in there, but our bats just went quiet on us,” said Bow’s manager, Gary Clifford.
“That pitcher just kept us off balance, moved his pitches around, and mixed in that slow breaking ball. He didn’t overpower us. He outpitched us.”
Bow’s lone run came in the top of the third inning when Tim Panella led off with a double. Two batters later, Yvars singled. He attempted to steal second, and during the rundown, Panella scored from third base.
Outside of the third inning, Bow’s offense was quiet with the exception of the sixth inning, when, after two consecutive strikeouts, Alosa was pulled because of a high pitch count in favor of Cody Barnhart.
The new pitcher walked Mike Penny and Conner Rossignol, bringing the game-tying run to the plate in the form of Josh LaCasse.
Though LaCasse made solid contact, he grounded the ball right to end the game.
In addition to his pitching, Yvars contributed three singles in three trips to the plate, and Panella added two hits, including the third-inning double.
Jonathan Patch and LaCasse each earned a second-inning walk.
Following the game, Clifford reflected on Bow’s post-season run, which included a 12-0 tournament-opening win over Newton, a hard-fought 9-8 loss to Nashua that spanned two nights, a 5-0 shutout of Pelham and a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over Suncook.
“Last year, we were two-and-out. We wanted to make things more competitive during the regular season, so the kids
would be more competitive in the tournaments,” said Clifford, who noted Bow Little League changed the ratio of minor league to major league teams to 2-to-1 this year. “The goal was that everyone would see a higher level of play and, as a result, it seems to have worked.
“It’s a short season for these guys to play together as a team because they’ve been competing against each other all year, and now, all of a sudden, they have to gel together,” added Clifford, “which they really did.”