Concord Post 21 keeps tourney hopes alive with win over Bedford Post 54

BEDFORD – Concord Post 21 will travel quite a bit this weekend in its quest for a spot in the New Hampshire American Legion Senior baseball tournament.

Post 21 did itself a big favor toward that goal Thursday by beating Bedford Post 54 9-5 at Riley Field in Senior District A action. Down 2-0 after the first inning, Concord scored four runs in both the third and the fourth innings and managed to get out of trouble late in the game to top Bedford.

“We’re kind of in desperation mode,” Concord coach Matt Skoby said. “We’re not worried about other teams losing, we’re worried about the teams we need to beat. This was a big game for us coming in, we knew that, so there was some added pressure. We made mistakes but we stayed relaxed and got it done.”

John Lewis got the win for Post 21 (9-6), going six-plus innings and allowing four runs on six hits and two walks. Lewis also struck out seven, including three in the sixth after getting into a little trouble.

The Concord pitcher opened the frame with back-to-back strikeouts of AJ Schiappa and Grayson Jennings, but Michael Kernan drew a walk and made it to safely to second when Chapin Bassi couldn’t handle a grounder by Justin Mickelson. Ryan Lang then reached safely on an error by Brad Murphy that allowed Kernan to score, but Lewis regrouped and struck out Kyle Fink.

“We make mistakes defensively and I tell the pitchers they have to be the ones who turn and say make the next play,” Skoby said. “They’ve been good at staying focused and doing their job.”

Seimou Smith pitched two innings of relief for Concord, stranding two inherited runners in the seventh and working out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth, while Josh Partride worked a perfect ninth, striking out two, to end the game.

Bedford (11-7) stranded five runners in the final four innings was 1 for 8 with a runner in scoring position over that stretch.

“I thought our defense was good and we had good plate approaches, we just couldn’t get guys in with runners in scoring position,” Bedford coach Tim Conway said. “We were watching a lot of first-pitch strikes go by and weren’t being aggressive in the count.

“All season, with that first pitch, we’ve been aggressive, especially with runners in scoring position. Our philosophy is to get guys on, and once we get guys on, we’re aggressive.”

Grayson Jennings took the loss for Bedford, as he went four-plus innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits and a walk. Kyle Andersson pitched five innings of relief and allowed just three base runners after the fifth inning.

With Thursday’s game as its regular-season finale, Bedford will now have to wait to see if it gets into the state tournament. Post 54 is tied in the loss column with Milford (9-7) and Laconia (8-7) and if either, or both, of those teams wins out, there would be a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot in the district.

“It’s complicated,” Conway said. “It’s just wait and see. If one of these teams drop one, it’s a tiebreaker and if one of them drops two, we’re in.”

The win moves Concord into the third spot, for now. Post 21 has to play at Laconia on Saturday at 7 p.m., then heads to Keene on Sunday at 12 p.m. After that, Concord will travel up to Lebanon to complete a game that was started Wednesday and is tied 10-10 in the 10th inning.

“We’ve got 19 innings left, the way I see it,” Skoby said. “It’s tough not to think ahead. The guys are tired and they’re still fighting. They want to make it. We’re playing hard.”