Lebanon Post 22 gets walkoff win over Derry Post 9 in first game of American Legion tournament

NASHUA – Ben Robinson did not want to see Thursday’s game go into extra innings, so when he saw Lebanon Post 22 coach Rob Woodward call for a suicide squeeze, he was prepared to execute it.

But Robinson fouled off two attempts and Woodward started to worry.

With two strikes on him, Robinson delivered, dropping a single into right field to score Brady Bates and give Lebanon a 1-0 win over Derry Post 9 in the first game of the American Legion Senior baseball tournament at Holman Stadium.

Robinson finished the day 2 for 4, adding a double, and ended Derry’s best chance at scoring in the fifth when he threw a strike from left field to get Austin Hall at the plate.

“I just wanted to get the win,” Robinson said. “I hate going into extra innings. We did it last (weekend) and it’s nerve-wracking. I was just ready to do whatever he wanted as long as we got the win. In the same type of counts, (Derry starter Chace Spears) threw curveballs, so I was looking for that. When I saw the fastball, I just jumped all over that.”

Spears was the tough-luck loser, as he went 8 1/3 innings and allowed one unearned run on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

“He kept them off balance and he was really working his offspeed,” Derry coach Dylan Mullin said. “He was able to get a lot of outs on early pitches, so he kept his pitch count low. I wish it turned out differently for him, because he pitched a great game.”

Through eight innings, Spears had faced just two batters over the minimum, but things unraveled quickly in the ninth.

Bates opened the inning with a groundball to third, but Hall’s throw sailed over first and Bates ended up on second. Caleb Broughton followed with a bunt back toward the mound, but three Derry players waited for someone else to field it and both runners were safe.

Spears came off the mound to field Noah Skarin’s swinging bunt, but took too long looking Bates back to third and Skarin was called safe at first. After striking out Ben Bates, Robinson singled to end the game.

“In our losses, we made a lot of errors,” Mullin said. “They got an unearned run to win the game. That’s what happens in the state tournament. We made one mistake all game and it came back to hurt us.”

Ben Bates pitched eight shutout innings for Lebanon, working out of trouble on a handful of occasions, as he allowed six hits and walked three to go with eight strikeouts.But the Post 22 defense played well behind him, as Derry left 10 runners on base.

Chase Hussey pitched a perfect ninth inning to get the win.

Post 9 loaded the bases in the first, but Lebanon turned a double play to escape the inning, and Derry left the leadoff runner at second in the second and third innings. Then came Robinson’s big defensive play in the fifth.

“He did a great job right there shutting it down,” Woodward said. “He bulked up and got it done.”

“It was pretty shallow in the outfield and almost came to a stop, so when I got to it, (Hall) was just about rounding third,” Robinson said. “I knew I could just get him. It was a close game and I had to get him.”

Jamie Collins was 2 for 4 for Derry, including a single to lead off the eighth, and Chris Gerossi followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Woodward came out to talk to Ben Bates and left his starter in the game.

“He’d been laboring for a lot of the game,” Woodward said. “He couldn’t quite hit his mechanics. When I went out there in the eighth, I said, you’re getting this one guy and then I’m gonna come pull you. He was up around 115 or 120 pitches. He struck out that guy and looked over at me and I said ‘have fun.’ That just pulled his trigger. He was going to empty the tank, he did and he did a great job.”