BY RYAN O’CONNOR Despite a disappointing season for the Concord American Legion baseball team, Post 21 manager Averill Cate wanted to conclude the summer on a positive note. In fact, he said he wants to end every Legion season like he’s done this year. On Thursday, Aug. 14, Concord Post 21 and the Forty-and- Eight Club ...

BY RYAN O’CONNOR Garde Burgess had an early idea how Concord Post 21’s American Legion baseball season was going to play out. During one of the team’s first practices, he pulled his nine pitchers aside and asked each one how many high school innings they’d pitched. Aside from ace Mitch Philibert, the answer was ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR Late in his first playoff game at the helm of a competitive baseball team, with his Concord American Legion junior squad tied 2-2 against top-seeded Derry and going into extra innings, Brian Drew turned to his predecessor, Averill Cate. “He looked at me and said, ‘I’ve got more butterflies in my stomach ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR It was a regular-season contest with a playoff feel. Concord Post 21, 6-8, and Salem Post 63, 5-9, both entered the game facing the same scenario: continue playing with a victory or bid farewell to teammates with a loss. Behind solid mound and plate efforts from Hopkinton’s David Brandt, Concord held off a late Salem ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR Going into a doubleheader with Plymouth, the Concord American Legion junior baseball team held a 4-6 record and was on the outside looking in at the fourth and final playoff spot. But after a two-game sweep of Plymouth, the team previously ahead of them, Concord players are now preparing for the postseason, carrying a 6-6 ...

BY SAPNA PATHAK It was as difficult as Dave Angus imagined. Standing in the dugout, facing his 11- and 12-year-old players, the Concord National manager struggled to find the right words in his final postgame speech. After an emotional 10-9 loss to Salem American in this year’s District 1 Little League majors baseball tournament, Angus ...

BY SAPNA PATHAK Sure, the stakes were higher – it was one of two losers bracket semifinal match-ups in this year’s District 1 11- and 12-year-old Little League tournament – but the four volunteer umpires calling the game thought they were prepared. They were wrong. A controversial call in the bottom of the sixth inning ...

BY SAPNA PATHAK Enter a dugout occupied by the Salem American Little League baseball squad; it’s an unusual atmosphere for a contender’s bench. Maybe it’s the players laughing and joking with each other. Maybe it’s the amusing dances they do when a teammate succeeds. But when you’re part of the best Little League ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR Though Goffstown was close, Mother Nature had the final say in the 11-and 12-year-old all-star team’s season-ending 4-3 loss to Concord National on Monday, July 9. After several consecutive nearby lightning strikes, the District 1 losers bracket quarterfinals game was called in the top of the sixth inning – with ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR Rain postponed the Fourth of July Fireworks show in the Capital City to July 5, forcing the District 1 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-star tournament game between Concord National and Bow to change venues. In Bow, however, there were no fireworks for the last-minute hosts. Though Jack Yvars continued his mound ...