BY RYAN O'CONNOR
After winning the pregame coin flip, Goffstown manager Ernie Gauvin chose to be the visitor, attempting to take an early lead and demoralize his opponent.
Though the plan failed, the team was successful, defeating Pelham, 7-2, on July 10, and advancing to the District 1 10- and 11-year-old Little League all-star tournament championship.
“Pelham came out and really shut our bats down in the first three innings. We were hitting their pitchers, but they were making the plays to slow us down a little bit,” Gauvin said. “But we eventually got back in our groove, wore that pitching down and made our hits count.”
Consecutive doubles by Kyle Gauvin and Ashton Florence scored Goffstown’s first run in the second, but Pelham came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
After a scoreless third, Goffstown’s offense came alive in the top of the fourth inning when Cody Fifty led with a single, Ben Genest reached on a base hit, and the runners moved to second and third on a passed ball. Gauvin followed with a base on balls, and after consecutive fielder’s-choice outs at home plate, Christian Hood walked to bring Gauvin home from third.
Zach Storro lined a two-RBI double down the third-base line, then Tom Hurley grounded a chopper past the pitcher and diving shortstop, bringing in two more runs, giving the locals a 6-1 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, Pat Kelsey hit a towering home run to straight-away center field, capping Goffstown’s scoring.
Fifty struck out six batters in the victory.
Goffstown waits 11 days before facing Hooksett for the district crown on Saturday, July 21.
The long layover shouldn’t have a negative effect, said Gauvin, who pointed out his team already waited between an 11-1 mercy-rule victory over Hooksett June 30 and the winners bracket final July 10.
“It’s something we weren’t used to seeing, so it made it a bit interesting on how the kids were actually going to perform,” said Gauvin of the long break prior to the Pelham victory.
“I was very impressed,” he continued. “We’re used to really beating up on people, and our scores show we’ve consistently beaten our opponents by 10 runs a team, so coming back and being 1-1 through three (innings) kind of got everyone thinking and made them really pull through together.”
Gauvin said team depth turned the game, an uncharacteristically close contest for his players.
Goffstown has set high expectations for itself in the championship round, having bashed five home runs against Hooksett in the previous outing.
“Come out early because we’re going to take an early jump,” said Gauvin. “When you get five runs on the board in the first, mentally, it’s hard to come back.”
Much like the previous layover, Gauvin said he has to allow his players to stay fresh and energetic without getting rusty.
“Over the next 10 days, I can only give them one or two days of vacation, but that’s all I can do,” said Gauvin. “I don’t want them to lose too much touch. They’re in a groove, they have a lot of momentum, and I want to keep the momentum going forward, but at the same time, I don’t want to break it by overworking them either.”
Goffstown plays Hooksett at 1 p.m. in Windham, attempting to bring home Goffstown’s second title in as many weeks after the 9- and 10-year-old team won its District 1 tournament.