BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Though he hit a walk-off grand slam in the Concord Little League playoffs, Connor Angus said it meant more to accomplish the feat in the second inning of the first round of the 11- and 12-year-old Little League District 1 all-star tournament.

Up, 2-1, with one out in the second frame, Angus stepped up to bat with the intention of putting the ball in play, but when Windham pitcher Colin Begin grooved a pitch right down the middle, Angus said he little choice but to put his best power swing on the offering.

Concord National won the first-round match-up, 8-1, on Monday, June 25, but not before a slow start.

Its first three batters fanned against Begin, who then led off the second inning with a solo home run.

“I wasn’t nervous and I was hoping (my players) weren’t,” said David Angus, Concord National manager. “I have a lot of confidence in them because I know the way they can hit the ball.”

Indeed, Concord National answered immediately with all eight runs in its half of the second.

Prior to Angus’ grand slam, Cody Ferns doubled, advanced to third base on a passed ball and scored on an error. Braden Smith walked, followed by singles from Cam Alosa and Sean Mamos.

Jon Dunn hit a sacrifice fly to deep right to score Concord’s second run, before Harrison Murphy reached on a pop-up infield single lost in the setting sun.

After Angus plated four, Peter Bashios doubled and Ferns, batting for the second time in the inning, hit a two-run shot.

“We can hit that kind of pitching,” said National’s manager. “It was good, but I’ve seen a lot better, and as we go down the road in the tournament, we’re going to see a lot faster than that.”

The elder Angus said his current team is the best hitting bunch in his nine seasons coaching, and he recognized the importance of taking a first-round victory.

“You can’t say enough about it. You get in the losers bracket and you’ve got to come back in win something like 11 in a row,” said Angus. “I don’t care how good you are, you’re going to run out of pitching, and you’re going to run into problems.

“So you really need to win your first two or three games and then, even if you drop one, you get into the losers bracket and you can win six or seven in a row,” he added. “But to lose this early, it’s almost impossible.”

Concord National was scheduled to play city rival Concord American on Wednesday, June 27.