Campbell squeezes past Somersworth to win D3 baseball title

MANCHESTER – Nick Freson might have been running, but he felt like his heart stopped.

The Campbell High School sophomore popped up his bunt attempt in the top of the sixth inning of Saturday’s Division III baseball championship game, and it looked Somersworth pitcher Josh Jacques was going to make a diving catch.

It would have only been the second out of the inning, but Jacques would have then thrown to third, where Campbell’s Chuck Neild, who was running home on the squeeze attempt, would have been the third out.

Instead, the ball landed inches short of the glove of Jacques, and with no play at home, the pitcher threw to first. Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, there was no one there.

The errant throw allowed Freson to go to second and Cody Caron scored from second to make it 3-1. Jackson Musco added a RBI single and the No. 3 Cougars (16-4) had all the runs they would need in a 4-2 victory over top-seeded Somersworth (18-2) at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

“When I thought he was going to catch it, my heart stopped,” Freson said. “When I dropped it, I knew that we were going to score at least one. Then he threw it past first and I realized we were going to go up.”

Campbell coach Jim Gorham told Freson, who drove in the winning run in Campbell’s semifinal win over Berlin, that he’d be the guy coming up with the game on the line and the sophomore was ready for the opportunity.

“He said that I would be getting up when the game is on the line,” Fresson said. “Glad I got the opportunity to do this.”

The Cougars wouldn’t have been in position for that rally without the help of their three seniors – Cullan Baker, Tyler Coughlin and Tyler Syphers.

Somersworth led 1-0 with runners on first and second, and two out in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Josh Young hit a ball toward the gap in right-center field. But Syphers positioned himself in the right spot before the pitch and easily made the catch to end the inning.

Baker opened the top of the sixth by crushing a double to the deepest part of the park, a hit that Campbell coach Jim Gorham can’t ever remember anything like it before.

“I don’t know how he hit that ball because that was the farthest ball I’ve ever seen hit in a game I’ve been to,” Gorham said.

“Being a senior, the instinct kind of kicked in,” Baker said. “I just looked for a good pitch to hit and drove it the opposite way.”

After walk to Neild, a passed ball moved Baker and Neild to third and second, respectively, and Coughlin got just enough of a Jacques pitch to bring Baker home to tie the game at 1-1.

“We were still fighting,” Gorham said. “We have to make it happen now and they made it happen.”

Caron reached safely on a bunt, advancing Neild to third, and then stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Freson.

“When I got out there, they had a mound break and coach (John Hartling) said take the first pitch and if it’s a strike, we’re calling a squeeze,” Freson said. “It was a strike, so I knew it was going to be a squeeze. And then I hit it in the air …”

Somersworth put a runner on in the sixth with one out, but Baker retired the next two to end the inning. The Hilltoppers had one more shot in the seventh, and they made the most of it.

Nick Mariano reached on an infield single with one out and Jacques followed with a double off the right field wall. With the tying run at the plate, Baker got Matt Fauci to groundout, scoring Mariano, for the second out and Young ground out to third to end the game.

Baker went the distance for Campbell, striking out six while allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks.

“We’ve been facing Baker for the last three years,” Somersworth coach John Shanley said. “He does a good job mixing it up. Hats off to him, he pitched well today and they played good defense behind him.”

The Cougars went in with a plan to pitch the Hilltoppers inside.

“They know me very well,” Baker said. “We planned it out differently. We stayed inside on them, they weren’t able to extend their arms. They’re a great hitting team and when they can extend their arms, they get a lot of power behind the ball.”

After Somersworth manufactured a run in the third, Baker was able to work out of trouble whenever the Hilltoppers threatened.

“Just one tremendous performance,” Gorham said. “They matured pretty quickly. All you’ve got to do is look at our record after we played (Somersworth) the second time. We knew we could play with them, it was just a matter of getting to the point that we knew we could beat them. I couldn’t be happier with a bunch of kids.”