Dover Post 8 holds off Derry Post 9 to win New Hampshire American Legion Senior Championship

NASHUA – Getting the bye into the championship game didn’t just mean the Dover Post 8 baseball team had to play one less game to win the American Legion Senior Tournament.

It meant that starting pitcher Aaron Denis got a chance to watch what he was going up against, and the Derry Post 9 lineup put on a show in its 9-5 win over Sweeney Post 2 in Tuesday’s first game at Holman Stadium.

After watching Derry’s Jamie Collins and Chris Gerossie hit home runs against Sweeney, Denis knew he was going to have to work carefully around them, and he did, helping Dover to a 3-2 win and its first state championship since 2000.

Denis went the distance, allowing two runs on five hits, two walks and three hit batters, in his first pitching performance of the tournament.

“We set it up so we could have him for that championship game,” Dover coach Jake Bishop said. “That’s the fourth time we’ve played them this year and the first two times, I thought we handled them well. But this tournament, they brought their bats.

“We knew that if Aaron could keep those first four from getting good wood on it, they go as their first four go, and if Aaron could keep them off balance, we should be OK. That’s why coming out for the last inning, there was no way he was letting me take him out.”

Collins and Gerossie were a combined 17 for 45 (.378) with five doubles, three home runs, 12 runs scored and 10 RBIs, in the tournament, but against Denis, they went 1 for 5, with the lone hit an RBI single by Collins. Denis also hit the pair a combined three times, which wasn’t the plan, but turned out to be effective when he did it to both in the first inning.

“I knew going in their first five were going to hit the ball,” Denis said. “Collins and Gerossie, they hit the ball real hard and their leadoff hitter (Joey Murphy) was going to hit the ball. If I could get through three in one inning and work three at a time, I knew I was in good shape.”

After hitting both in the first, Denis got Chace Spears to ground out to end the inning. In the third, Collins came up with two on but hit into a double play to end the inning.

There were two on and one out again in the fifth when Collins fouled a pitch toward the home team bullpen. Dover’s Anthony Lupi ran a long way to make the catch and Dover won an appeal that Derry’s Joey Murphy tagged and left second too early for the final out of the inning.

“They’re a tough team,” Derry coach Dylan Mullin said. “They grind out games and make you make plays. They were just able to get more timely hits with guys on base than we were.”

In the eighth, Collins singled with one out to score Murphy, but Gerossie fouled out on a great effort by third baseman Ryan Cordeiro, and centerfielder Jared Gagne was able to track down a deep fly off the bat of Spears to end the inning.

With the bottom of Derry’s order coming up in the ninth, Bishop felt confident in leaving Denis out there to complete the game.

“We came out in the bottom of the ninth, we had their six-seven-eight (hitters),” Bishop said. “(Denis) said ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ so we gave him one batter at a time. When he walked the one kid, he thought he was coming out. He’s got more confidence than anybody out here, sometimes it hurts.”

While Denis was shutting down Derry’s top hitters, Post 9 starter Josh Yaratz was working his way out of trouble. The Derry righty went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs – one earned – on seven hits and four walks, but most importantly, he stranded eight runners on base. Riley Cahill came on in relief, stranded an inherited runner and allowed just two more in the final 3 2/3.

“We were hoping for three or four and (Yaratz) ended up giving us 5 1/3,” Mullin said. “He stepped up huge on short rest. That was the first Riley had pitched all year, including high school. He’s coming off an arm injury and he gave us 3 2/3 of relief and a chance to win the game. It was a great job of our pitchers to step up.”

Gagne led the Dover offense from the No. 9 spot in the lineup, as he went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Robby Sheldon and J.T. Bishop also each scored a run, and Ryan Hayden was 2 for 3.

Murphy had two of Derry’s five hits against Denis and scored a run, while Kyle Albertelli was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Dover moves on to the play in the Northeast Region 1 Championship, which begins on Aug. 7 in Middletown, Conn.