Nashua, n.h. — Road signs in this city direct drivers to “Historic Holman Stadium,” where baseball has been played since its 1937 construction. For the Lebanon Post 22 senior American Legion baseball team, however, its recent history at Holman has been highly unpleasant.

Lebanon’s 12-2 loss to Merrimack Post 98 on Saturday meant it exited the double-elimination state tournament in two games for a second consecutive season. At least last year, Post 22 managed one close contest. This time around, an 11-3 loss to Rochester on Friday was followed by a worse pounding a day later.

Post 22’s senior team has lost its last six tournament games dating to 2014 and seven of its last eight going back to 2013.

“You don’t need to talk to me,” Lebanon coach Rob Woodward said at game’s end. “I’ll just say the same things as yesterday. You got to come ready to play.”

Friday, Woodward said his team quit during the fourth inning and that its defense and hitting were subpar. Saturday, it seemed everything that could go wrong did go wrong, beginning with the second-inning exit of starting pitcher Chase Hussey, who’s battled a sore arm at times this summer.

The right-hander, a rising sophomore at UMass Dartmouth, surrendered a run in the first inning and another during the second frame before being replaced by Matt Braley, who inherited a 2-1 deficit. The Proctor Academy student got through the third, but during the fourth allowed two hits, walked three batters and hit two others while Merrimack scored five runs.

Post 98 scored twice in the eighth and three more times during the ninth. The game was halted once Merrimack went up by 10 runs with one out in the final frame and Lebanon’s Cam Broughton on the mound. Normally a shortstop, Broughton was the visitors’ fifth pitcher as Post 22 gave up a combined 18 hits.

“We only seemed to come out and play half a game,” said Broughton, a rising senior at Lebanon High. “We definitely weren’t getting the calls we wanted, but we also didn’t get many hits.”

Lebanon had eight hits but only once had as many as two in the same inning. That happened during the eighth, when Post 22 scored its second run.

“Coming in, I thought we’d win game one and breeze through to the championship with the team we have,” Broughton noted. “We didn’t change our mentality, but we focused too much on some calls and didn’t worry enough about our own game.”

Lebanon (12-6), New Hampshire District A’s runner-up during the regular season, was the visitor by virtue of a coin flip and surrendered the game’s first run during the first inning. The leadoff man doubled and was brought home by a two-out single.

Post 22 produced a 1-1 score during the second inning. Braley led off with a double and scored on a one-out Kegan Silovich single. However, Silovich tried to stretch the play into a double and was thrown out at second base. Henry Day struck out to end the inning.

Merrimack (9-7), District B’s fourth-place finisher, took a 2-1 lead during its next at-bat. The first hitter singled and stole second. A one-out single moved him to third and a two-out single scored him. Two batters later, Post 22 left fielder Nate Perkins uncorked a beautiful throw to cut down a runner at the plate for the inning’s second out.

Broughton singled during the Lebanon third but was picked off first base, and the batters before and after him grounded out. Chase Hussey singled to lead off his team’s fourth at-bat, but was erased on a one-out fielder’s choice. Braley, the batter who reached safely on that play, was then picked off first to end the inning.

Post 98’s fourth unfolded in nightmare fashion for Lebanon. Merrimack’s first batter was hit by a Braley toss and moved to second on a wild pitch. The next batter walked and the one after that dropped down a bunt single to load the bases. A single made the score 3-2, and a walk moved it to 4-2.

The next batter was hit by a pitch to make the score 5-2. Another single followed, and Merrimack enjoyed a 7-2 lead with no outs in the inning.

The fifth inning began when Post 22’s Will Smith beat out an infield hit. Jacob Tetley then handled a high fastball and laid down a bunt. He was thrown out at first, and Smith tried to go from first to third on the play and was thrown out by a significant margin. Third-base coach Rick Brown walked out of his box wearing a stunned expression, and Smith trudged back to the dugout, where his teammates sat in silence.

Tetley, who had mopped up during the fourth, was replaced on the mound during the fifth after allowing a leadoff single and throwing one ball to the second man up. Cedric Elkouh concluded the fifth and also threw the sixth and the seventh before Perkins started the eighth. He issued a walk, hit a batter and surrendered a single before being yanked for Broughton.

Post 22 scored its second run during the eighth when Broughton singled and scored on a Hussey triple.

Notes: Braley took the field with his usual flowing blond hair but a dark goatee. Queried about the contrast, he admitted he and Day had used Just For Men dye to darken their wispy facial hair. … A strange stretch occurred when Tetley took the mound before Merrimack’s fifth at-bat. Day, the Post 22 catcher, had just made the third out and was buckling his gear on. No player went out to receive warmup throws for Tetley and he squatted on the mound, chin on his chest, for a stretch. He did not throw until the first batter stepped in. … Broughton said he hopes to settle on a college or university after competing in a prospect showcase on Long Island next month. He said landing at Dartmouth, which has shown interest, “would be the best-case scenario.” He also confirmed plans to play his senior season of football for Lebanon.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.

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