BY RYAN O'CONNOR
Though Goffstown was close, Mother Nature had the final say in the 11-and 12-year-old all-star team’s season-ending 4-3 loss to Concord National on Monday, July 9.
After several consecutive nearby lightning strikes, the District 1 losers bracket quarterfinals game was called in the top of the sixth inning – with Goffstown’s lead runner on first base and Concord ace Cam Alosa replaced due to a high pitch count.
“Usually, you tell the kids, ‘Hey, you played the whole game,’ but it’s tough when they don’t get to,” said Goffstown coach Scott Sharby. “It was a safety issue though, and (the umpires) definitely made the right call. Our concern is, first and foremost, safety, and we’ll play baseball second.”
Still, with his team threatening in the sixth, Sharby said Goffstown had an good opportunity to produce runs against National’s relief pitching.
“I think, frankly, if we had another inning, we would have won the game,” he said. “As a coach, we would have loved to have finished the game, and if we lost – oh, well. But it would have been nice to have the chance.”
Sharby did, however, acknowledge his team blew key opportunities to capitalize earlier. National did not.
In the second inning, a passed ball advanced a Concord runner to third, which cost Goffstown a run on a single in the next at-bat.
Then, in the fourth, with the game tied, 3-3, Concord National manager David Angus, noticing the looming storm moving over the field, decided one score could win the game and played to manufacture the go-ahead run.
After a leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt moved the National runner to third. The next batter chopped the ball back to the Goffstown pitcher, who overthrew the first baseman, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
“Concord played some small ball to get that extra run, which was really smart with the weather looking the way it did,” said Sharby.
Prior to the fourth inning, however, Goffstown took a one-run lead in the top of the third.
Chris Garrison hit a chop single right over the third baseman before Danny Ciruzzi followed up with a double.
After Nick Larose was hit by a pitch, Tyler Barss hit a hard grounder to second base, but Garrison was thrown out at home. Connor Benjamin then hit a two-run double to give his team a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Tyler Parron singled to right field, and Ryan Sharby lined a base hit to left field. A passed ball advanced both runners, and Aleks Holm was inserted as a pinch runner at third. Mike O’Donnell‘s groundout allowed Holm to score Goffstown’s third and final run.
In the fifth inning, Holm reached on a one-out single, but heavy hail stalled the game for 20 minutes. Alosa came back to strike out the next two batters.
Though Goffstown’s season came to an anticlimactic end, Sharby said the tournament was a nice showcase for Goffstown’s young baseball talent.
“We have a very strong program in town, and I think we had some phenomenal athletes who were very coachable,” he said. “Winning the first three was great for the kids, and I think they realized, as they played deeper into the tournament, the games became tougher and one key play or a mental mistake can end your season.”
Even the winning manager confided he never looks forward to playing Goffstown.
“We’ve had a lot of tough losses against them over the years,” said Angus. “We were lucky to get a few breaks along the way and the weather certainly helped.”