After cruising through the New Hampshire District 1 Little League all-star winners bracket, the Goffstown 9- and 10-year-olds hit a pinstriped wall.

That mass of brick and mortar was Salem American, which fell in the first round before winning nine straight games, including back-toback 4-1 and 8-7 victories over Goffstown in the tournament finals.

“Obviously, it was a heartbreaker to lose two in a row at the end like that, but we just met a team that was unbelievably hot,” said Goffstown manager Sean Skinner. “It’s not that we weren’t playing well or hitting the ball. I mean, we struck out a total of five times in both games, but we hit it right at people, and they made all the plays. Every time we had a chance to break it open, they would come up with something outstanding to slow us down.”

The final game was closely contested right to the end. Goffstown took a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning, but American stormed back to tie the contest. The locals fell behind by a run in the fifth inning, tied it in the sixth and ultimately fell on a walk-off base hit.

Skinner refused to use a one-week layoff as an excuse for the consecutive losses. “I hate to say it, but I think if anything, they may have been overconfident,” he said. “I mean, they were undefeated and were already talking about playing (District 2 champ) Portsmouth. Before they knew it (in the 4-1 setback on Saturday, July 19), it was too late. We told them to be angry, and they were. They came out with a different attitude in the second game, and you could see the difference.”

Even with the tough loss, Skinner found a silver lining. “You’ve got to remember they’re only 10, and I honestly believe 10-year-olds learn more from losing than winning,” he said. “They may not realize it now, but if they play hard and have fun, and learn some lessons, they’ll be better off. These kids are going to be playing together for the next two years, and they have nothing but good things ahead of them.”

Taking the field for Goffstown this season were Peter Steckowych, Dylan Skinner, Kyle Chisholm, Connor Walsh, Kyle Perron, Kyle Jalbert, Jason Thomas, Jake Romein, Ian Gately, Chace Dearborn, Jacob Lambert and Jason Dufour.

“Throughout the whole tournament, everybody hit and everyone played outstanding in the field. When one kid had a bad day, another kid would pick him up,” said Skinner. “That was the story of our tournament. They all played their hearts out.”