Bishop Guertin baseball tops Nashua South in extra innings

NASHUA – Jeff Lunn and Joe Gouveia met up for a pitchers’ duel Wednesday at Holman Stadium.

And when the pair wasn’t pitching, each was providing a bit hit for the Bishop Guertin and Nashua South baseball teams, respectively. While Gouveia got his Panthers on the board first, it was Lunn’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth that gave the Cardinals a 4-3 win.

Both made it through 6 1/3 innings on the mound, with Lunn allowing three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Gouveia held Bishop Guerin hitless for the first 3 2/3 and gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

The Cardinals had a runner on in every inning, but twice Gouveia was able to pick off the runner. While the Panthers were able to hit Lunn, they didn’t string any together until the fifth inning.

“I have them thinking that high school pitchers, especially No. 1 guys, are usually around the plate,” South coach John Roper said. “Don’t go up there looking to walk, go up there looking to hit. He’s a good pitcher, don’t get me wrong, but we could hit him. He has a good fastball.

“Look to hit and want to hit, that’s our philosophy. You can’t stand around looking, especially against a guy like Lunn who will challenge you.”

With one out in the fifth, South (3-4 in Division I) strung together four straight singles, the first two by Matt Dietrich and Josh Goulet. The pair advanced to second and third on a double steal an came around to score on Gouveia’s single, making it 2-0 South.

Matt Byers followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Lunn was able to get out of the ending by getting Nick Reed to hit into a fielder’s choice and forcing a groundout from Juan Cruz.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the inning. Jon MacQuarrie singled and Jason Ferlan walked to open the fifth, and both advanced on a sacrifice by Andrew Mierzwa. Gouveia battled back to strike out Tim Donovan, but Eric Damphouse singled to drive in both MacQuarrie and Ferlan to tie the game.

“It’s a relatively young group, but they don’t panic,” Bishop Guertin coach Scott Painter said. “We’ve been down in a lot of games, so these kids have learned how to play from behind.”

Bishop Guertin found itself behind again in the seventh as the Panthers played some small ball. Dietrich led off with a single and Goulet sacrificed him to second, and Painter sent Andrew Williams to the mound in relief of Lunn.

With Gouveia at the plate, Dietrich tried to steal third and the throw from Cardinals’ catcher Shane Nowak was there, but as he slid, Dietrich knocked the ball from the glove of MacQuarrie. Williams then hit Gouveia to put runners on the corners with only one out, when Roper took a gamble.

The South coach called for a squeeze and Byers laid down a perfect bunt. Norwak was forced to field the ball and his only play was to get Byers at first, as Dietrich scored to put South up 3-2. Gouveia went to second on the play.

“I just wanted to get the run and Byers is a great hitter,” Roper said. “I said ‘let’s just put it down.’ It’s one of those games where a lot of runs weren’t going to be scored, so you have to take opportunities when they can.”

The Cardinals intentionally walked Reed and Williams got Cruz to fly out to right to end the inning.

Once again, Bishop Guertin came back, as MacQuarrie led off with a single that dropped just out of the reach of Sean Warneke in left field. Warneke’s throw went past the cutoff man for a two-base error, allowing MacQuarrie to get to third.

Ferlan followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring MacQuarrie, and ending Gouveia’s night on the mound. Brad DeLuca came on in relief and got the final two outs to send the game to extra innings.

South had a chance to retake the lead in the eighth, as Ferlan relieved Williams to open the inning and walked the bases loaded. But the junior was able to get Gouveia to ground out to third to end the inning.

Damphouse opened the bottom of the eight by crushing a double over the head of Reed in centerfield, and DeLuca intentionally walked CJ Boykin. DeLuca struck out Griffin Scanlon, but Lunn crushed a 1-2 pitch to center, and Damphouse easily scored to give the Cardinals the win.

“Any win is going to help a team, especially a relatively young team,” Painter said. “A win like this means a lot. It’s a night game against the Nashua kids, in front of a Nashua crowd, and they were ribbing us a little. It’s fun. It’s important for these kids to see how to compete.”

Despite the loss, Roper agreed and felt his team would be better prepared for the next time it’s in that situation.

“I love a game that you can battle in,” he said. “That makes better players out of them. You learn more in a game like that.”