BY RYAN O'CONNOR
Last time Hooksett played Goffstown, it gave up five home runs in an 11-1 loss in the winners bracket of the District 1 10- and 11-year-old Little League all-star tournament.
Now, after victories over Manchester East and Suncook and a 10-2 win over Pelham in the losers bracket final, Hooksett has its chance at revenge against Goffstown in the tournament championship.
“After the way we’ve played the last three games, I think we have a very good chance (against Goffstown),” said manager Mike Boucher. “If we play the field well and we keep hitting like we have been, I think we can beat them, but we absolutely have to play our very best ball because they are a very good team and they all can hit.”
But to prevent a repeat of the previous outing, Boucher says his team will have to keep the ball in the park.
“We’re going to keep the pitches down,” he said. “We have kids that can throw against Goffstown, we just need to keep the ball low in the strike zone because everything that was hit out (the first game) was letter high.”
Against Pelham on Saturday, July 14, Hooksett came alive in the second inning after a scoreless first.
Matt Paradis led off with a double, and Scott Robidoux and Cam St. George followed with back-to-back walks before Brian Jutras knocked two in on an RBI double.
St. George and Jutras advanced on an overthrow to the plate, and Aiden White connected on an RBI double to give Hooksett a 4-0 lead.
Pelham kept it close for another inning, scoring a run in the third, but in the top of the fourth, Hooksett pulled away.
Austin Sprague led off with a base hit, then sped around the bases to score from first on a Conner Boucher single.
After White took a base on balls, Chris Moquin drove in two on a double, and Drew Groves followed with an RBI single.
Two batters and two outs later, Tanner Walls hustled his way to an infield single, scoring Paradis for a 9-1 edge.
Hooksett, after giving up its second run in the bottom of the fifth inning, answered immediatley when Groves singled and St. George later plated him with an RBI single.
In its previous game against Suncook on July 11, Hooksett put together a similar performance in a 9-1 victory.
Down in the fourth inning, 1-0, Paradis, St. George and Boucher all were hit by the opposition’s pitcher to load the bases with no outs. White took advantage, notching an RBI and reaching on a fielder’s choice before Reed Macey and Robidoux drew walks, bringing home another run. Moquin then cleared the bases on a line-drive triple past a diving right fielder, and Groves contributed a base-hit RBI for Hooksett’s sixth run.
The next inning, St. George led off with a single, and Jake Parker moved him over with a bloop single to center field.
After White walked to load the bases, Macey brought two runners home with a long double over the head of the center fielder, and Robidoux capped the scoring with an RBI single.
Suncook Manager Mike Caraway said he was impressed with Hooksett’s dedication and sportsmanship.
“I thought Hooksett was a tremendous team and if we were going to lose, I’m glad it was to somebody close to home and not down in the southern part of the state,” he said. “It’s nice to see this area represented by players that conduct themselves well on both sides.”
Boucher says it has taken a lot of hard work, by both the coaches and players, to put Hooksett in a position to win the District 1 title.
“We kept the nucleus of last year’s 10-year-old team together, and now they’re 11-year-olds, and we’ve worked really hard with them and feel very comfortable with the product,” said Boucher. “We’ve got a good mix of infielders and outfielders that we’ve rotated around, we’ve hit the ball well, and our pitchers have done extremely well.”
Hooksett and Goffstown play for the District 1 championship on Saturday, July 21 in Windham. If Hooksett wins, the teams play again the next day at the same location.