Big inning lifts Concord past Goffstown

NASHUA – Concord could have gone into the bottom of the eighth inning with its collective head down.

Post 21 had given up an unearned run in the top of the inning to allow Goffstown Post 16 to tie the game at 5. That came after Concord had blown a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning.

But instead, Concord took advantage of four Goffstown errors to score five times in the eighth inning and take a 10-5 win over Post 16 Friday in the American Legion baseball tournament at Holman Stadium.

Concord will take on Nashua at 4 p.m. Saturday in the winner’s bracket, while Goffstown will face Sweeney in the loser’s bracket at 9 a.m.

“We took advantage of the opportunities,” Concord coach Bryan Caruso said. “The biggest thing I look at is that we battled back. There were times that we could have, we made some mistakes in the field and we could have just folded. We kept battling and that’s what we’ve been doing well all year.”

David Drouin had three hits and drove in two runs, and also picked up the win for Post 21, pitching four relief innings and allowing one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Ed Dionne also had two hits, scored two runs and pitched the first five innings for Concord, while Connor Moroney had a two-run single in the eighth.

Ryan Smith had three hits for Goffstown and pitched the first 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight while allowing three earned runs on eight hits and three walks.

“Our starting pitcher battled,” Caruso said. “It’s hot out here and he came out and gave us solid outing. That was big for us. He’s been our guy all year to go out there and set the tone for this team.”