MANCHESTER — Lebanon American Legion Post 22 junior baseball coach Chauncey Wood sent his troops out of their Gill Stadium dugout Sunday afternoon to face Plymouth Post 66 with a literary exhortation.

“Come on boys, let’s write another chapter in this book.”

When all was said and written however, the team’s tome had been slammed shut by Plymouth’s 6-5, walkoff victory with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a state tournament elimination game.

Camden Cook’s slow grounder between third baseman George Tafe and pitcher Dominic Calandrella became the winning infield hit when shortstop Zander Doyle couldn’t fire the ball across the diamond in time. First baseman Zach Aldrich stretched for naught, Cameron Manning scored from third base and Post 66’s players spilled onto the artificial turf in celebration.

“It was in a bad spot to make a play,” said Wood, whose team rallied from a seven-run deficit Saturday to beat Portsmouth and remain alive in the eight-team event. “The resiliency of these kids is amazing.”

Lebanon led the contest, 3-2, during the fifth inning before falling into a 5-3 hole one frame later when it committed two of its four errors. Designated the visitors, Post 22 pulled within a run in the seventh when Nick Brill walked, stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored on a Doyle single.

Winn Thomas, who’d followed Brill with a walk and moved to second base on Doyle’s hit, led a double steal that put Lebanon runners on second and third with no outs. Tafe was next and struck out, but Aldrich delivered a sacrifice fly that scored Thomas and tied the score at 5-5. Bennett Hewett ended the inning with another strikeout.

Post 22 starting pitcher Sam Loescher retook the mound for the bottom of the seventh. The rising Hanover High junior was fast approaching Legion’s single-game pitch limit, but retired the first two batters before surrendering Manning’s deep fly ball into the right-center gap. Hewett appeared to stumble while in pursuit and Brill raced over to attempt a sliding catch, but the ball bounced over him, resulting in a double.

John Flaherty followed with an infield hit, allowing Manning to take third. That brought Cook to the plate and necessitated the removal of Loescher, who gave way to Calandrella, a rising sophomore at Lebanon High.

Loescher, short on velocity but long on guile, allowed 10 hits and six runs, only one of them earned, while striking out one batter and walking two. Lebanon’s six hits were struck by as many players, with Brill stealing three bases. Each team stranded six runners and Plymouth didn’t commit an error.

“Sam kept them off-balance all day, had them on their back foot and got outs when we needed them,” Wood said. “He’s all about location and he’s not going to blow your doors in, but he’s a great little pitcher. He’s a quiet kid and you don’t get much emotion out of him, but you can tell he has a passion for the game.”

The junior team carried Post 22’s flag this summer, finishing 11-9 and third in District A while the senior squad wound up 1-17 and failed to reach the state tournament for the second consecutive season. Plymouth, fourth in District A, improved to 10-10 with its Sunday victory. The teams split their two regular-season games.

“We’re a young team that made costly mistakes but they’ll get better as they get older,” said Wood, whose entire roster will remain junior Legion eligible next year. “I can’t wait to see them.”

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.

 

 

]]>