Baseball Notes: Windham, Spaulding play a game for the ages

Windham High School baseball coach Leo Gravell was traveling back in time on April 28.

A junior at Andover (Mass.) High School, Gravell’s Golden Warriors lost an extra-inning affair to Central Catholic of Lawrence. Reliving his moments as a player in a game that went from seven innings to 11 back in 1985, a game his team lost, doesn’t really compare to what he witnessed firsthand on the bench or from his spot in the third base coach’s box in the bottom of the 17th inning in 2021.

“No, I haven’t been a part of anything close to this as a player or a coach,” Gravell said of his Jaguars’ 7-6, 17-inning win over Spaulding High School of Rochester. “The closest I can think of was that game my junior year of high school. That was a long time ago, and doesn’t really come close to what happened on Wednesday.”

Windham (5-2) spotted Spaulding (0-4) a 6-2 lead through four innings, before tying the game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Following 11-1/2 scoreless innings, the stage was set for Owen Larouco to find his way home for the win.

Larouco started the bottom of the 17th inning with a leadoff infield single deep in the hole to shortstop. Keegan Parke walked. With one out, and runners on first and second, Windham successfully executed a double steal. With two outs, Larouco jetted home on a passed ball for the win.

“No hesitation,” Larouco said of his decision to break for the plate. “There’s two outs, two strikes and after 17 innings you take your chances when you get them.”

Larouco had a good read on the situation from the jump.

“I could see the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand a little high,” he said. “After my secondary lead, and jump off the pitch, I’m already halfway down the third baseline. I didn’t hear coach Gravell in the third base box say stay or go, I was just taking off on what I saw in front of me. As soon as the ball got past the catcher I was on my way before it hit the backstop.”

On the other side of the diamond, Spaulding coach BJ Gagnon was in awe of something else that occurred. The Red Raiders’ losing pitcher, sophomore Josh Scamman, threw 107 pitches over 10 innings of relief work. Scamman scattered four hits, struck out three and walked two in the loss.

It wasn’t the ending that Gagnon or Scamman wanted, but it’s one of the few bright spots to highlight during Spaulding’s early season struggles.

“We both had our chances long before the 17th,” Gagnon said of missed scoring opportunities. “That one pitch doesn’t overshadow what that young man did to keep us in it that long. His performance is something we can build on as a team and he can grow from as a player. I was just really super happy for him and what he did on the mound that day.”

The relief pitching was sensational all around in the contest.

Windham’s Charlie Breen struck out 10 and walked two in 9-1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Joey Blair took over for three innings of one-hit, shutout relief, and Braydan Decotis gave up no hits in the top of the 17th to earn the win.

“We can withstand a game like that better than most because we have five or six guys with good control who can throw strikes,” Gravell said. “Pitching depth is one of our strongest assets. We needed it for a game like this.”

Defense behind those relievers was also big in denying a few scoring opportunities that could have ended things much sooner.

Larouco was stellar defensively at second base, making three or four plays to preserve the tie, according to Gravell, while Spaulding center fielder Robbie Creteau threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate to end Windham’s game-tying fifth inning.

“It was exciting for all of us, coaches and players,” Gravell said. “It can get a little nerve wracking in certain situations, but it’s also fun. You don’t get to experience something like that too often if at all.”

Gagnon has experienced something similar two other times while coaching the Rochester Legion team.

“We played 14 and 15 inning games in the same week one year,” Gagnon said of his legion team. “When you’re in a game like that, you just never know when the tires are going to fall off. You need to stay loose and have some fun.”

That’s exactly what Larouco did throughout.

“There’s certainly some nerves involved,” Larouco said. “Those nerves aren’t as bad if you’re having some fun and just keep playing your game and not overthinking things. Just approach every situation the same as long as the game goes on.

“It’s kind of cool,” he said. “You see things like this on ESPN. Major league or minor league games going that far. You never really think you’ll ever be involved in one. So you enjoy it. Have fun in the moment. Every kid has that dream. You want to be the guy that makes the play, gets the hit or scores the winning run.”

Get Well Soon, Champ

There was a serious scare in New England coaching circles two weeks ago.

Legendary high school and college coach Dave Bettencourt – a fourth-year volunteer assistant for his daughter Katie’s Endicott College (Beverly, Mass.) softball team – collapsed during an April 23 practice and was in cardiac arrest. The college’s athletic trainer and baseball coach rushed to his aid to perform life-saving CPR and a defibrillator until the paramedics arrived.

It was determined that the 67-year-old Salem resident had two blockages that led to his cardiac arrest. Staff at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester put in a stent to handle one blockage and performed an angioplasty to deal with the other.

Bettencourt got his first head coaching job at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass. He was at the helm of the Raiders program when they beat Andover (Mass.) High School in that 11-inning game that Windham coach Leo Gravell flashed back to in 1985.

Bettencourt would use that first job as a launchpad to one of the most storied coaching careers in Bay State and Granite State history. He found title success a few years later as the coach of Gravell’s alma mater in Andover.

His storied head coaching career began at Central Catholic, where he went 42-20 in three seasons (the program was 4-14 the year before he arrived), before leading Andover to an 111-33 record and state titles in 1991 and 1992 (still the school’s only state baseball crowns). His other high school stops included Lawrence (Mass.), Salem and Winnacunnet of Hampton, where he led the Warriors to their first state title in 1991. He also had success in college baseball, coaching the University of New Hampshire to a school-record 23 wins in his one and only season as the Wildcats head coach.

In his later years he’s continued teaching ball players, joining his daughter’s staff at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and most recently Endicott.

A great teacher and mentor to young athletes, and even more so a caring and amazing human being, we wish Coach B a speedy and healthy recovery.

You got this, Champ.

Diamond Gems

Here’s a look at some recent standout performances from around the state:

• Pinkerton won its own extra-inning game on April 28. Merrimack tied the game in the seventh inning to force extras, but the Astros prevailed 7-3 in 11. Max Lukeman (5 innings, 1 run, 2 hits) got the win in relief of Tom Rioux (6 innings, 1 hit, 2 runs, 0 earned). Cole Yennaco (3 hits, 3 RBI, 2 runs) and Lorenzo Corsetto (2 hits, 2 RBI) starred offensively.
• Londonderry’s Brandon Fish returned from a forearm injury to go 1 for 3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored in the Lancers’ 5-2 win over Concord on April 28.
• Bedford’s TJ Crowley (4 for 4) drove in three runs with a triple, double and two singles in a 7-2 win over Manchester Central on April 28. Crowley also struck out six and allowed just one run on two hits on the mound.
• Bishop Guertin freshman Jake Boudreau struck out six and scattered two hits over four scoreless innings in the Cardinals’ 8-4 win over Keene on April 30.
• Pinkerton’s Liam Doyle struck out 16 Winnacunnet batters over six innings of work as the Astros handed the Warriors their first loss of the season, 5-1 on May 1. Doyle struck out the first 12 batters he faced, besting an 8-1 Winnacunnet squad which scored 83 runs through its first eight games.

To report standout diamond performances, or offer ideas for the baseball notebook, send an email to scioneg@gmail.com.