Coffey Post wastes little time in win over Sweeney

NASHUA – Anyone who thought Nashua Coffey Post 3 would have any jitters playing in the American Legion baseball tournament for the first time in a few years might have been surprised Friday.

Coffey Post scored at least a run in each of the first five innings and got a shutdown performance from starter Christian Ferlan to pick up a 10-1 win over Manchester Sweeney Post 2 in tournament action at Holman Stadium.

Nick Reed had three hits and drove in four runs while Joe Breen, Louis Tarantino and Brandon Karkhanis also had two hits early in the game, and Cody Gilchrist added a two-run single.

Ferlan went seven innings, giving up an earned run on five hits and four walks to go with five strikeouts. Twice he left the bases loaded.

“We had the bats and Ferlan was mowing them down pretty good,” Nashua coach Kevin Palanski said. “They had a couple of hard hits, but it was right at them and we’re able to make the plays.”

Sweeney’s Steven Schack took the loss, going 4 2/3 innings and allowing four earned runs as his defense made three costly errors behind him.

“It’s a game of mistakes,” Palanski said. “They made three errors and all were costly for them. At this level, two good teams, it can come down to something like that.”

Nashua jumped on the board in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs, three after a Sweeney error gave them new life. Coffey Post added single runs in the second and third to take a 6-1 lead and Gilchrist’s two RBIs in the fourth made it 8-1. Nashua scored two more in the fifth for a nine-run lead.

Sweeney loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, but Ferlan dug deep and got Nashua out of the inning with its 10-1 lead intact.

“He is a gutsy a pitcher,” Palanski said of Ferlan. “He wants the ball and if he gets into a jam, he wants to be the one to get out of it. He doesn’t want to leave the game.”

Jimmy Faso pitched the final two innings in relief, giving up two hits and striking out one, while Sweeney’s Brandon Stevens pitched the final 3 1/3 for Post 2, allowing one hit and one walk.

Nashua will play at 4 p.m. Saturday against Concord in the winner’s bracket, while Sweeney will play at 9 a.m. against Goffstown.