In a league noted for parity, where a Class L cellar dweller routinely topples a team in the penthouse, Goffstown High has constructed, in more ways than one, an exceptional baseball program.

Following a 9-8 victory over four-win Exeter on Saturday, May 10, the varsity Grizzlies were 11-3 and tied in the loss column with Salem and Keene for Class L’s top spot.

Seventh-year head coach Matt Benson praised Mark Marasca, head coach of perennial power and defending Tri-County League champ Mountain View Middle School, as well as junior varsity coach Terri Gatzoulis, for fostering a consistent atmosphere of dedication and enjoyment.

“The baseball knowledge (among the high school varsity players) is there from the get-go,” said Benson after GHS shook off pesky, sub-.500 Manchester West, 4-2, on Thursday, May 8. “These guys love playing baseball, and it certainly helps that they’re athletic. And they love being around each other.”

It’s a group that’s forged success at the Little League, middle school and Babe Ruth levels.

Tom MacDonald and Matt Gifford share GHS captaincy. Benson said the players, as they’ve done the past 13 years, choose their team leaders.

Kory Kiro, Steve Case, Ryan Allen, Matt Auger-Lencki, Eric Badasarian, Travis Rand and Nick Campasano are the other seniors of the close-knit squad, one that traveled to Florida for a preseason tournament against teams from Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Grizzlies returned with the confidence to win in different ways.

Earlier in the Class L regular season, Goffstown pounded foes, compiling double-digit decisions over Trinity, Dover, Spaulding and Central before May arrived.

As the weather keeps warming up, so do their opponents. But no matter. The Grizzlies, who dropped a 2-1 decision to Keene on Monday, May 12, won their previous four contests by two runs or less.

Against West, MacDonald pitched and hit the team to another ‘W,’ throwing a complete game and smacking a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning that plated Josh Lafond with the eventual winning run.

Good pitching and clutch hitting are, of course, key ingredients in any recipe for postseason longevity.

Benson realizes the competition continues to improve as June and the playoffs approach. Situations become tenser and, as nerves tighten, close contests invariably hinge on a pinpoint pitch, clutch hit or well-placed bunt.

But the coach also knows his charges are well trained to deliver each of these and, ultimately, victory.

Game notes vs. West

Alex Hickey scored the team’s first run in the bottom of the first on Allen’s single to left. After West took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, GHS answered immediately on Allen’s second RBI single to left.

Lafond started the gamewinning rally with a single, and when the center fielder didn’t field the ball cleanly, he hustled to second. Badasarian’s flyout to center moved Lafond to third, where he scored on MacDonald’s single past West’s sprawling second baseman.

Following a single to right by Rand, who produced three hits, Hickey’s infield hit scored MacDonald, who fanned four and walked one on the mound in seven innings of work.