Victories over Timberlane and Nashua South followed by a loss to Bedford last week left coach Brent Demas and his Londonderry High baseball team contemplating their 11-6 record as the 2014 Division I tournament nears.
The Lancers jumped all over the struggling Timberlane Regional Owls in Plaistow on Wednesday, May 21, handing that host its eighth consecutive loss in a 9-0 drubbing.
The Lancers advanced to 10-5 by scoring three times in the top of the third inning and then six more times in the top of the fourth. Londonderry rapped out 10 hits, with Colby Joncas collecting three (home run, double, single) and Geoff Kayo and Jonny Meskell each slapping two. Joncas was also responsible for driving in three runs, and Kayo and Rob Del Signore each notched two RBI.
Kayo also did himself proud on the pitcher’s mound, hurling six innings, striking out 11 batters, and allowing just four hits and two walks.
“Geoff made some slight adjustments to his pitching mechanics and they paid off in spades,” said Demas. “He had all his pitches going and gave us the opportunity to get the victory.”
Two days later at home during the team’s Senior Night, in damp weather conditions, the Lancers snared another victory but it took an extra inning to hand the visiting Nashua South Purple Panthers a 4-3 defeat.
Londonderry overcame several deficits to collect its 11th win of the spring, rebounding out of a 2-0 hole by scoring two markers of its own in the latter half of the third inning.
South reclaimed the upper hand with a run in the top of a rain-soaked fourth, and the game was delayed at that point due to the weather.
The hosts knotted the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh frame when Kayo thumped a triple and Matt Nolan came in to run for him. And Nolan scored moments later on a double by Joncas.
And then in the bottom of the eighth inning with the score at 3-3, aggressive base-running by Ben Byerly (3-for-4 batting) and a nice sacrifice bunt by Jordan Tutt (two hits) pushed the Lancers to the win. Tommy Corey collected the pitching victory for his side.
“The defense was very solid to support an overall strong perfomance from the pitching staff,” said Demas.
But the locals came up on the down side of a 3-0 tally against the struggling Bedford High Bulldogs in Londonderry the next day.
The 7-9 Bedford bunch came into the game having lost four games in a row, but it got past the Lancers and lowered Londonderry’s record to the still-impressive 11-6.