The No. 5 Wilton-Lyndeborough baseball team travels to No. 4 Newmarket on Saturday for the Division IV quarterfinals after dispatching No. 12 Lisbon 9-2 on Thursday.
WLC (13-4) jumped out to an early lead on the backs of the Brennan brothers, as the Killer B’s carried their weight in the playoff opener. Troy (2-3, 3B, 3 R, RBI) led off with a single, Sean (4-4, 2 2B, RBI) followed suit and then Neal (2-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI) drove them both home. Kyler Tremblay added a bloop hit to drive in Shane Partridge (2-2, 2B) and the Warriors were in command.
“I thought, this is good, we’re on our way, and then they held us,” said WLC coach Dave Finch, after his last home game as a Warrior. “We got stagnant – a lot of fly balls to the outfield.”
The Warriors would add another two in the fourth, on a Lucas Johnson (2-3) single, a Troy Brennan RBI triple and a Neal Brennan fielder’s choice, and WLC was up 5-0.
Neal Brennan, battling through calf cramps, held Lisbon to two runs over five innings while striking out seven, fanning the side in the fourth. He started to labor a bit in the fifth, allowing the leadoff batter to walk and score, but WLC held tough.
“The thing that I liked is that they cut it to 5-2, but we came back,” Finch said. “That was important. In the past, we go down 1-2-3, they get more momentum, and then it’s an issue.”
Instead, the Warriors scored another four runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach, on a Johnson single, a Troy Brennan walk, back-to-back doubles by Sean and Neal Brennan and an error that put Owen McGettigan on.
Troy Brennan pitched the sixth and seventh, striking out four batters, closing the door, and keeping his pitch count low enough to toe the rubber again on Saturday if needed.
WLC will play No. 4 Newmarket (15-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Mules beat the Warriors twice in the regular season, 6-1 and 13-1.
“We’re going to have to play better on Saturday to beat Newmarket,” Finch said. “It’s a tough place to win, they’ve got a good crowd, and they’re talented. I just want to play good baseball. If we play great and we lose, that’s how it works. We have to play really well.”
After the game, Finch walked around the back corner of the high school to find a surprise barbecue, where current and former players, family and friends celebrated his retirement from a coaching and PE-teaching career that started in 1982.
“I don’t really want to retire, but I’m a PE teacher and I’ve had nine surgeries on my legs,” Finch said earlier this year. “My legs are shot. I think it’s time…For me this has been a great community, a great school, the people here are very kind to me, it’s been fantastic.”
ConVal 8, Hanover 5
Duncan Cahoon hit a walkoff three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give No. 5 ConVal an 8-5 win over No. 12 Hanover in the Division II playoff opener on Thursday. Cahoon had his share of deep balls on the fenceless SMS field this season, but playing up at ConVal, he went up and out for the win.
“The game was a battle, we knew it would be,” said ConVal head coach Mike Marschok.
Hanover scored first, but ConVal answered back with three in the third inning. Hanover then took a 5-4 lead into the sixth, where Dylan Pipher led off with a double and then scored as Casey ‘Racer’ Jordan beat out a tailor-made double play ball to keep the inning alive.
Jack Plourde pitched sixth innings and Connor Buffum closed it out in the seventh.
ConVal (14-5) is at No. 4 Saint Thomas (13-4) Saturday at 4 p.m. The Cougars beat the Saints 1-0 in the season opener.
“I’m not going to take much out of that game on April 12,” Marschok said. “Things have changed, their lineup’s probably changed just like ours has. It’s going to be a good matchup.
Bishop Brady 14, Conant 4
The Orioles took an early 3-0 lead over the Giants, but Brady kept grinding, tied it up, and then pulled away to win on the ten-run rule and knock Conant (9-8) out of the playoffs.
Nick Germano went 1-2 with two RBI and a stolen base to lead the Orioles; Griffin Labonte (1-3) and Silas Seppala (1-3) both drove in runs.
Troy Aho (2-2), Colson Seppala (2-3), Preston Kirby (2-3) and Jerome Olin (2-3) had multi-hit days for the Orioles.
Kirby started and allowed 10 runs and six hits while walking nine over 3.2 innings.
Aho relieved him and pitched 0.1 innings, allowing four more runs, and Gavin Motuzas finished the game on the mound.
White Mountains 9, Mascenic 2
The Spartans scored first and never trailed as the Vikings (9-8) made seven errors in their playoff opener and ended their season with a 9-2 loss at White Mountains.
Shea Zina went 5.2 innings, striking out ten and allowing eight runs (three earned).
TJ Hiott (2-3) ended his high school career by hitting a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
Justin “Rocky” Smith had Mascenic’s only other hit on the day as the Vikings were held to three hits in all.