Manchester Post 79 wins pitchers’ duel over Milford Post 23

MANCHESTER – The unlikeliest of pitchers’ duels took place at Gill Stadium on Thursday night.

On one side was undefeated Manchester Post 79 and starter John Poissant, going against a Milford Post 23 team that has just two players too old to play Junior American Legion ball.

Post 79 did just enough against Post 23 starter Andrew Martel and Poissant pitched a complete game, facing just three batters over the minimum, shutting out Milford 2-0 in District A action.

Poissant allowed four hits and struck out seven as Milford (3-6) had just four base runners, only one of whom made it to second base. Martel took the loss, giving up two earned runs on eight hits and three walks over eight innings.

“The kid can throw,” Milford coach Mike Caravella, Jr., said of Poissant. “It looked like he was throwing a lot harder at the end of the game. He did a great job throwing the fastball and the curveball. He was pounding the zone and getting ahead.”

Poissant also had two singles for Post 79 (6-0), while Travis Silvia and Aidan White each had a RBI groundout to score the two Manchester runs.

Although Post 79 got the win, coach Al Jenkins wasn’t too happy with his team’s approach against Martel.

“Defensively we played well,” Jenkins said. “Pitching was excellent. Hitting the ball, we need to be a lot more patient.

“Some kids throw slower than others kids and you’ve got to sit there. You see someone who is throwing slow and the eyeballs open up and you want to crush it. You start lunging for it and start popping things up. We’ve got to be more patient.”

None of Manchester’s hits went for extra bases, and Caravella even thought his team might have done a better job making contact.

“Frankly, I think we hit it better than them,” he said. “We hit the ball, just right at people.”

Milford got a runner to third base in the top of the third with two outs, when Ben Osterholtz beat out an infield single and stole second base. The throw from Post 79 catcher Nikolas Beeson hit Osterholtz and caromed into left field, allowing the runner to go to third. But Cam Lafluer struck out on the next pitch to end the inning.

Post 79 got on the board in the fifth, as Sam Kasten led off the inning with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout by Joseph Provencher. Silvia then bounced out to short, allowing Kasten to come home with the game’s first run.

Manchester got an insurance run in the eighth, as Chris Lekkas and Poissant hit back-to-back singles with one out. Both runners advanced on a balk by Martel, and Lekkas came in to score on a groundout by White.

Post 79 will test its undefeated record on Friday, when it plays at Concord Post 21 (6-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Field. The teams play again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Gill Stadium.

Post 23 returns home to Keyes Field on Saturday, when it hosts Bedford Post 54 (4-2) at 2 p.m.