The word is out. There’s nothing easy about playing a tournament game against Londonderry’s talented 10-U all-star baseball squad this summer.
The local contingent – which is led by head coach Jay Parent and his assistants Pete Griffin, George MacDonnell, Tom Killelea, and Kevin Dickson – battled its way into the championship games in each of its first three tournaments of the 2014 summer campaign and left a whole bunch of opponents none too sure about a potential rematch.
“We’ve had a great summer,” said Parent, in what might have been a bit of an understatement.
Parent’s charges showed their colors and mettle at the District 5 Tournament in Concord, losing their first game by the slimmest of margins before rebounding beautifully to win four consecutive games and wind up in the championship game.
The locals were dealt a tough, 9-8 loss to Youngstown in their first game in the tourney, but they bounced back to best their next four opponents to make it into the title contest against Exeter.
The seacoast squad claimed the crown by winning that championship game, but Parent and his boys strode away from the tourney with plenty of reasons to feel good about themselves and what they could accomplish in future tourneys. The locals also proved that they were up to the rigors of tough tournament action.
“We played six games in six days in that tourney,” said Parent.
The Londonderry crew then moved on to the Hollis/Brookline Cam Ricard Tourney and went a perfect 4-0 in pool play to, once again, wind up in the championship game. But Parent’s young people suffered a hard-luck, 2-1 loss to Swansey in that title match and had to be happy with runner-up status a second time.
In those first 14 contests, the Londonderry bunch had its players tally some impressive numbers.
The team’s potent offense was paced by versatile Brandon Fish (pitcher and shortstop), who batted at a jaw-dropping .707 clip with 22 runs batted in, 24 runs scored, a .750 on-base percentage, and a 1.024 slugging percentage.
Not far behind Fish was third baseman Jake Holdsworth with his .636 batting average, .667 OBP, .795 slugging percentage, 24 runs batted in, and 24 runs scored.
Other standouts included catcher Justin Dickson (.525 average, .725 slugging, two home runs, 26 runs scored), outfielder Jack Marshall (.500 average, .526 slugging, 15 runs scored), and his fellow outfielder Gavin Parent (.475 average, .553 OBP, 13 runs batted in, .550 slugging).
The team’s other contributors include Braeden Griffin (second base), Owen MacDonnell (pitcher/first baseman), Ryan Killilea (pitcher/shortstop), Noah Sekula (pitcher/outfield), Nathan Carroll (outfield/third base), Owen Gingrow (second base), and James Griffin (outfield).
After enjoying success in its first several tourneys, Parent’s pupils went on to post another glittering, 3-0 record in the Youngsville tourney and make into the championship game.
And the local boys took care of business in a big way in that title game this past Sunday night, dominating a frustrated Dover crew in a 10-1 victory that featured superb pitching from Brandon Fish (complete-game effort, 13 strikeouts) to win the tourney.