Derry Post 9 rallies in ninth to knock out Concord Post 21

NASHUA – Dylan Mullin wanted to see his Derry Post 9 baseball team put together a full nine inning game.

Post 9 did it Friday, and all it took was the threat of elimination.

After letting a two-run lead slip away in the top of the ninth inning, Derry rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning to walk off with a 6-5 win over Concord Post 21 in the American Legion State baseball tournament at Holman Stadium.

Pat Mahoney hit a two-out, two-run single to right field, scoring Joey Murphy and Chris Gerossie, to keep Post 9’s season alive. Concord, which had tied the game in the top of the ninth on a two-run triple by Chris Gauss and gone ahead 5-4 when Gauss scored on a wild pitch, was eliminated from the tournament.

“They played a hard nine-inning game,” Mullin said. “That’s something that we have to do and at times this season, we struggled to do it. At the end of the game, we had great at bats from the top of our lineup. Murphy getting on was great because it establishes the leadoff guy getting on. Riley (Cahill) moved him over and Pat came up big for us.

“Just putting the ball in play, that’s all we wanted to do. It’s better to put the ball in play and make them beat you rather than beat yourself. It’s a tough way for either team to lose the game.”

And it would have been tough on Derry to lose both its tournament games in the ninth inning. Post 9 gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth Thursday to lose 1-0 to Lebanon Post 22.

“It was a great job by the team, especially after (Thursday),” Mullin said. “It would have been tough losing two games in the ninth inning in the tournament. I’m proud of these guys. They played hard when it counted most.”

Matt Tritto got the win despite giving up three runs in the top of the ninth inning. Tritto pitched three innings of relief, striking out two while giving up four hits and a walk. Gerossie started the game and went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Mahoney finished the game 3 for 5 and also scored a run while Murphy and Austin Hall had two hits and an RBI apiece.

Derry scored its first four runs on six hits – four of which stayed in the infield – in the third and fourth innings. After that, Concord pitcher Josh Partridge battled to keep Post 9 from doing any more damage.

Partridge went eight innings and scattered 11 hits and a walk while walking just one, giving Concord coach Matt Skoby more than he could have asked. Seimou Smith suffered the loss as he got two outs in the ninth before Mahoney’s game-winning hit.

“We had a plan where he was going to go five or six (innings) and then we had a middle reliever and then go to Seimou (Smith) at the end,” Skoby said. “He went out there on pure heart and guts. He did not have his best stuff. His fastball didn’t have the pop it normally has, but he gutted it out and was able to use all three of his pitches.”

Concord was down to its final strike twice in the ninth, but Brad Murphy kept the inning going with a double to left field. Smith followed with an infield single and stole second to give Post 21 runners at second and third. With two strikes on him, Gauss hit a fly ball to right that was just out of the reach of Chace Spears, scoring both runners.

Gauss ended up at third with a triple and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Tritto, putting Concord up 5-4.

Murphy led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, stole second and went to third on a groundout by Cahill. Smith struck out Jamie Collins and the ball got away from catcher Chris Fournier, but as Collins was running to first, the ball hit him in fair territory. Murphy went home and thought he’d scored to tie the game, but the ball was dead when it hit Collins and had to return to third.

Gerossie followed with a walk and Spears was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Mahoney, who hit a fly to right that Concord’s Gracion Smith couldn’t handle, allowing two runs to score.

“I know even though we’re down, until we have the last out of the game, I know we have a chance,” Skoby said. “I know these guys will fight until the last out. I’m proud of them for fighting.”