Coach Jay Parent’s talented U-10 All-Star baseball squad has vanquished many teams since the start of the 2014 all-star campaign.
After making it to the championship game in its first two tournaments but losing and having to be satisfied with runner-up status, Parent’s pack won the Youngsville tourney title and then followed up by winning the Salem tournament this past Saturday, July 26.
As if all of that weren’t enough, the Londonderry stars had already begun making inroads on bagging yet another tourney title – this time in Hudson – and faced a big winners’ bracket battle just hours after putting the final touches on the Salem tourney championship.
In the hotly-contested Salem tourney – which included a number of Massachusetts entries – the Londonderry crew came out of pool play as the top seed in its pool. It then faced a tough Thursday night, July 24 semifinal-round contest against a skilled Tyngsboro team. But that Massachusetts bunch would go no further after suffering a 5-1 loss at the hands of Londonderry.
Versatile standout Brandon Fish pitched shutout ball for 5 1/3 innings before he reached his pitch-count limit, and he struck out seven batters while on the hill. Justin Dickson rapped two hits, drove in two runs, and scored twice in the victory, and Gavin Parent, Fish, and Jake Holdsworth also smacked in runs for the victors.
With the host Salem squad having demolished South Lawrence by an 11-0 tally in the other semifinal, the locals knew they were facing a real challenge in the title contest two days later.
“We split with (Salem) in our pool, so it should be a great title game,” said Parent after the Tyngsboro victory.
The Salem offense began the title game like a house afire, building up an early lead. But Londonderry came pounding back and bagged the 8-4 win to snag the tourney crown.
Lefty pitcher Owen MacDonnell went the first four innings for the victorious locals, and Ryan Killelea closed out the game by hurling the last two frames.
“Jake Holdsworth had a huge (offensive) game for us, including a bases-clearing double,” said Parent.
In the Hudson tournament late last week, the busy local all-stars had begun their involvement by defeating the host team by an 8-4 tally. Eight Londonderry players scored runs, the locals plated six of them in the first inning, Holdsworth raked two more hits, and Noah Sekula and Jack Marshall each pitched three frames to help their side to yet another success.
The local team also includes Braeden Griffin, Nathan Carroll, Owen Gingrow, and James Griffin.