Tough luck Londonderry edged in second straight pitcher's duel

A 2-1 offering in the fourth inning from outstanding sophomore pitcher Jake Finnegan skipped by catcher Geoff Fisher, allowing Nashua South's Bill Ferriter to advance from second to third, then score on a sacrifice fly from Dan Feehan. It was the only run of the tightly-contested ballgame, and Londonderry lost to South 1-0. It was Finnegan's first loss of the year.

"It was a well-played game," Londonderry coach Brent Demas said. "It's a passed ball away from still going right now. That happens. It's part of the game. You just have to accept it and move on. It's definitely tough. Any loss is tough, but I think at this point in the season you just need to learn lessons from games and I think we learned some lessons today. We faced two quality pitchers in a row and we've only scored one run, and we have to make adjustments."

That quality pitcher was University of Maine-bound flamethrower A.J. Bazdanes, who flummoxed the Lancers for a complete game shutout. He gave up only five hits and two walks in the win, and fanned 10 batters. The Lancers made him work early, but he settled down nicely, striking out the side in order in the third and getting a 1-2-3 fifth and sixth.

Demas, though, was disappointed by his team's inability to adjust to Bazdanes' one good pitch, a fastball that hit as high as 91 on the gun in the early going. The fact that Londonderry had five runners stranded in scoring position, three of which got there with one out or less, didn't help matters.

"That kid threw well," Demas said. "I think his fastball was good but that was all he had. We should have adjusted to that. He wasn't throwing (his curveball) for strikes that much but in general he held us to no runs so he did well."

Finnegan, Londonderry's No. 2 pitcher, meanwhile, turned in a sterling performance that went for naught. He sat down six batters to Bazdanes' 10, but allowed fewer hits (four) and walked fewer batters (just one). Still, he got the loss, exemplifying the term "hard-luck loser."

"He threw strikes," Demas said. "He's a young kid, so when he learns to trust his stuff and pound the zone, he's going to be one of the better ones. He does have a better curveball than he showed today. That's just one of those things you keep telling people, but you can't make them do it."

Londonderry did, however, cobble together a last-gasp chance with two outs in the seventh. Chris Crutcher looped a single into left field and pinch runner Josh Moore-Young stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Robbie McLarney drew a walk to put the go-ahead run at first before Chris Verryt came on to pinch hit for Fisher and worked the count to 2-2 before succumbing to Bazdanes, flailing at a high, crisp fastball to end the game.

"We decided to go with a pinch hitter there because our catcher is younger and he was struggling against that starter," Demas said. "We made the decision to go with the pinch hitter and it didn't work out for us. The kid we sent up is a contact-oriented hitter, a real singles hitter, but he's coming off an injury. In hindsight, would we have (pinch hit) again? I don't know."

What he does know, however, is that his pitching is shaping up nicely. If Demas can get performances like this and out of his No. 2 starter, who now boasts a 3-1 record and a 1.35 ERA, then the rest will likely take care of itself. Adam Veino, who took a 3-1 loss against Salem last week despite a complete-game three-hitter with nine Ks, has a 2.80 ERA. Crutcher, the third starter, is 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA.

"I think in a year where pitching is down, we have three quality starters, and that's going to take us a real long way," Demas said. "It's the regular season, so it's not really the season that matters, as long as you make the second season. I'm confident in my team and they're going to turn it around because they have the work ethic to do it."

Nashua South (1): Ryan Farris 1b 2-0-0, Joe Cordaro 3b 3-0-0, Bill Ferriter cf 3-1-1, Dan Feehan rf 2-0-0, Dan Mullins c 3-0-1, Jon Devito lf 2-0-2, Josh Ramos 3-0-0, Brandon Cox 2b 2-0-0, Dylan Lustig ss 2-0-0; Totals 22-1-4

Londonderry (0): Scott Worth dh 3-0-1, Brian Finnegan 2b 3-0-0, Kyle Neverman ss 3-0-1, Adam Veino cf 2-0-0, Sean Caron 1b 3-0-1, Jeff Harding rf 3-0-1, Chris Crutcher 2-0-1, Robbie McLarney 3b 2-0-0, Geoff Fisher c 2-0-0, Chris Verryt ph 1-0-0, Josh Moore-Young pr 0-0-0; Totals 25-0-5

Photos

Londonderry's Jake Finnegan took the loss, despite allowing just five baserunners on four hits and a walk, in a 1-0 loss to Nashua South. Finnegan struck out six and saw his ERA drop to 1.35 despite falling to 3-1 on the season. Staff photo

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Londonderry's Kyle Neverman swiped second base in the fourth inning, and eventually reached third on a sacrifice, but he became one of five Londonderry baserunners to be stranded in scoring position. Staff photo