The Londonderry Post 27 American Legion baseball squad put forth considerable effort over the last week to remain among the upper-echelon squads in tough District B.
Last week began with a couple of peaks-and-valleys efforts, as veteran manager Rick Brothers’ bunch started the span with a 6-5 home victory over the Nashua Legion side on Monday, June 29.
The Gate City crew is now 6-3 and very much in the tournament hunt, so that tight victory was significant for the Londonderry guys.
But things then turned ugly for the locals on their home diamond at Londonderry High School the next evening, with the Dover Legion group spanking the Legion 27 side in a humbling 13-1 defeat.
Dover was still chasing the .500 mark at week’s end with its 4-5 record, but the seacoast side was nothing if not prolific offensively that evening.
But after having to contemplate some of the aspects of that lopsided loss to Dover for the better part of the next three days, Brothers’ boys bounced back with a 3-0 shutout of the host Salem Legion contingent last Friday night, July 3.
At the end of last week, the struggling Salem side was still seeking its first win of the summer, but bouncing back from the thumping to Dover was of prime importance – against anybody – for Londonderry.
The local nine then went back on the road Sunday, July 5, for a pair of seven-inning battles with Exeter. Those games shaped up to be quite intense, as both sides began the day with 6-2 records.
But the day ended up being an all-or-nothing affair for both contingents, with Londonderry powering its way to a 7-0 win in game one, only to be throttled by an 11-0 tally in the second game, which lasted only five frames, thanks to the 10-run rule.