Salem’s 14-year-old Babe Ruth baseball team had eased past Keene with a 3-0 victory earlier in the state tournament, but Keene grabbed a more important win, eliminating Salem, 2-1, in the losers bracket final on Saturday, July 26.

After reaching the final of the winners bracket, Salem lost consecutive games, unable to muster an offensive attack. The winners bracket final was twice rained out before Goffstown came back for a 6-2 victory on Friday, July 25. Goffstown scored one run in the bottom of the fifth to cut Salem’s lead to 2-1, then the locals walked four batters in a five-run Goffstown sixth.

“That was just one bad inning for us,” said Salem’s manager, Al McQuarrie. “We just had some luck that didn’t go our way. We couldn’t answer after that. I thought it was evenly matched, and we were with one another throughout. Both pitchers were doing well keeping each other off the bases.”

Despite the loss, Salem was still alive in the final of the losers bracket on Saturday, July 26, hoping to earn a spot in the state title game later that afternoon.

But Keene jumped to a 2-0 lead and never relinquished it. Salem scored one run on a defensive error.

“We were anxious to play, so I don’t think the rainouts affected us too much,” said Mc- Quarrie. “We didn’t hit that well (against Goffstown), and we didn’t hit that well in the game against Keene. The kids had been hitting much better previous to that. Perhaps that cooled our bats down.”

In the loss to Keene, Salem starting pitcher Evan Breen came in to replace injured starting pitcher Paul Trabuco, and did so successfully. Breen didn’t allow a hit in his three innings of relief.

Joe Morin, Brendan Dunn, Sean Swansen, Mike Downing and Brandon Travaglini collected Salem’s only hits against Keene, while Downing and Morin each chipped in two hits in the loss to Goffstown.

Dunn was 1-for-3 in the loss to Goffstown with the team’s only RBI. The only other run scored on a balk.

McQuarrie said he expects the team to challenge for the tournament title again next season.

“They’re a very strong group of kids, and they were just a little off at the plate,” he said. “I think you’ll see them next year in the thick of things.”