Rocky start – An 8-1 loss puts Windham in a tough tourney spot

Salem Editor — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:56:00 GMT

Pitcher Colin Begin fanned the first three batters in the game and then homered to straight-away center to lead off the second inning. But on Monday, June 25, personal and team success proved short-lived for Windham’s 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-stars.

Begin allowed eight runs in the bottom of the second inning in an 8-1 loss to Concord National.

“It was looking good early, but Concord had some real good hitters and a real strong team,” said Arthur Mullin, Windham manager. “We lost the game in one inning. The rest of the game was pretty tight.”

Lefty Ben Petron, inserted with two outs in the second, shut out Concord National for the remainder of the game.

But Windham only threatened again in the top of the sixth, when it loaded the bases with one out.

John Hennessey made good contact, but lined the ball right to the second baseman, who threw to the National shortstop at second base for the final out of the game on a 6-4 double play.

Mullin said Windham, with a little discipline, can still make a run in the losers bracket.

“(It was) just base running errors, that’s all, that we’re going to have to work on to make it through the tournament,” said Mullin.

But Concord National manager David Angus, with nine years coaching, said Windham has a long hard road ahead.

“You get in the losers bracket and you’ve got to come back to win something like 11 in a row,” said Angus. “I don’t care how good you are … you’re going to run into problems … To lose this early, it’s almost impossible.”

Mullin said he welcomes the challenge of winning 11 in a row.

“That’s all right. We should be able to do that,” he said. “We just have to eliminate the mistakes and play some smart baseball.”

Windham awaits the loser of the Auburn-Bedford game, which it will play Saturday, June 30, at 1 p.m. The location is still to be determined.

Windham News : Concord

Rocky start – An 8-1 loss puts Windham in a tough tourney spot