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’CONNORDespite 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 congratulated ...

BY JERRY LIPTAKThrough five innings on July 9, Salem American proved a most inhospitable District- 1 Little League host, keeping Hooksett’s 11- and 12-yearold all-stars from threatening its house. Strong pitching, flawless fielding and timely hitting gave the home team a 4-0 edge. Prior to the top of the sixth and final inning, Hooksett ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYThe Hooksett 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-star bats were slowed for the first three innings of a District-1 losers bracket game at Plaistow. But a mid-game acceleration in bat speed mirrored the rapidly increasing numbers on the visitors’ side of the scoreboard. Hooksett scored 11 runs in the final three frames en ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORSitting at a youth hockey conference, watching what was likely to be another boring prerecorded training video, Kermit Brunelle sighed. On the screen, Don Lucia, coach of the national champion University of Minnesota ice hockey team, was giving a speech. “A lot of people think I have the best job in hockey, and I tell ...

Hooksett 18 – Dunbarton 7 Shannon Argo and Shannon Martin went 4-for-4, and Kim Wallace, Bry Pearson, Elaina Lavigne, Amber Young, Ashley Pilotte, Sam Desaulniers and Lindsay Read were a combined 17-for-25 with seven walks, as Hooksett rolled in junior-league action. Winning pitcher Argo turned in five strong innings, striking out ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORAfter sneaking up on the competition in 2007 and reaching the state finals with one of the youngest teams in Class L, coach Ed Poisson knows his Pioneers aren’t surprising anyone this year. But the expectation remains the same. “To make it beyond that first round in Class L you’ve got to throw your No. 1, ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORIt’s uncomfortable, but it’s a conversation both parties know must take place. As practice begins, Bill Walton, the John Stark wrestling coach, pulls Morgan Belanger aside. “You know if anything inappropriate happens, you have to tell me,” he says. Belanger nods. She’s had this talk before. ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORFor Hooksett-area teams and individual athletes, 2007 was a year in which the surprising became the norm, particularly at the high school level. Though squads such as the Central girls tennis team finished tops in Class L and Cawley Middle School collected multiple titles, other perennial contenders bowed out of the ...

BY RYAN O'CONNOR Sweeney is going to the American Legion baseball postseason tournament, and according to manager David Flurey, the contributions of three locals have made winning the state title a possibility. “We’ve shown that we can beat anybody, and at times we’ve shown we can lose to anybody,” said Flurey. ...