Concord Post 21 hoping strong regular season carries over this time

MERRIMACK – The 2011 baseball season was a special one for Concord Post 21.

For the first time in 25 years, Concord reached the American Legion state tournament, going 14-2 during the regular season, and there was some thought that Post 21 had a shot at walking away with the title.

But after winning its first game, Concord was outscored 30-2 in its next two games and was eliminated from the tournament.

“We ran out of gas in the playoffs last year,” Concord coach Bryan Caruso said. “It was (assistant coach) Matt (Tupman) and mine’s first year. We relied on four pitchers and we had starters come in and close games out. We’re trying to not do that this year so we’re fresher.”

Knowing that the team hadn’t been to the postseason in so long had a part in how Concord played during the regular season.

“We went after every game, we wanted to establish ourselves and get into the playoffs,” Caruso said. “Sometimes we probably overdid it. We’ll be up two and we’re bringing in the guy who is supposed to start tomorrow.

“(This year) we’re sticking to that rotation. We had a four-guy rotation right now and we think that’s working well. If we swing the bats like we are, it’s a lot easier to use the bullpen.”

Concord (6-1) has scored more than 10 runs in each of its six wins and has averaged 11.4 runs per game. Its only loss of in district play was a 5-2 setback against Laconia that went just five innings.

What’s helped Post 21 this season is the addition of a handful of players from Concord High School, which won this year’s Division I championship.

“Most of the kids had played Senior Babe Ruth in Concord and they had a good program going,” Caruso said. “We picked up four or five kids from Concord High who didn’t play for us last year, they played Senior Babe Ruth. They’re big parts of the team and with those additions, those have been great. We’ve been much deeper.”

Along with the Concord players, Caruso also has three players from Hopkinton, which won the Division III title this year. And on top of that is pitcher/ourfielder David Drouin from Merrimack Valley, who Caruso believes is one of the best players in the state.

“Everybody knows what he can do on the mound,” Caruso said. “He’s probably, if not the best, one of the best pitchers in the state. He’s done that for the last two years. He’s an all-around player. Most of the college interest he’s getting is from some Division I teams. They want him on the mound, but he’s a great outfielder and he can hit.”

Drouin showed what he could do in the outfield against Merrimack on Wednesday, throwing a runner out at home and at third from right field. Neither play was close.

He also drove in two runs in that 15-4 win, not a bad until you consider what teammates Eddie Dionne (3 for 6, four RBIs), Sam McManus (3 for 5, three RBIs) and Kenny Hart (4 for 5, three runs) did.

“We’ve been hitting all year and scoring a lot of runs,” Caruso said. “We’re going to keep it going. I think we’ve been hitting .450 as a team. We’re pretty deep and we’ve got some good arms. We’ve just got to keep it going.”