Olen, Bedford shut down Dover to win American Legion title

NASHUA – There is truth to the saying that pitching and defense win championships.

Just look at the Bedford Post 54 baseball team.

Bedford was superb in both areas during the entire New Hampshire American Legion Tournament, and Post 54 was at its best in the championship game, as it shut down Dover, 9-0, to win the title Wednesday at Holman Stadium.

Lucas Olen pitched a five-hit shutout, walking just one and hitting a batter with seven strikeouts, while his defense was nearly flawless behind and the offense took advantage of every Post 8 miscue to post its highest run total of the tournament.

Bedford’s offense wasn’t pretty, as it managed just seven hits and left 14 men on base. But Post 54 took advantage of nine walks, three hit batters and five Dover errors to remain as the last one standing. Bedford will now play in the Northeast Region 1 Tournament, starting Aug. 4 at Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

“In these tournaments, I think it’s all about your pitching depth,” Bedford coach Tim Conway said. “All season we were tested. We played six games in seven days two weeks in a row and it got us prepared for this.”

While other teams were running the same three or four guys out to the mound, Olen was the only pitcher Bedford started twice. He went six innings in a win over Rochester on Friday, and he knew that if Bedford made the final, he’d get the ball again.

When that happened, Olen was ready to go. With his slider, changeup and curveball working, he went away from his fastball, and at times, made Dover’s hitters look silly.

“He was masterful,” teammate Tom Hudon said. “That was … we couldn’t have gotten anything better.”

“Lucas was amazing,” Conway said. “The swings they were taking indicate how well he was pitching. You can tell when he’s on and he was on.”

Conway thought about making a pitching change late in the game, but Olen persuaded him not to.

“Everything worked so I’m happy,” Olen said. “I got to pitch nine innings. I’ve never thrown a nine-inning shutout before. It’s a new mark for me and I’m happy with that.”

Dover put two runners on in the first on an error and a single by Ian Seaward with one out, but after that, Olen settled, putting down the next 11 batters in order. The only glitch in that stretch was a base hit by Steve Carlberg in the third, but Olen quickly erased the runner by picking him off first.

The leadoff man reached for Dover in the fifth, but after a sacrifice, Olen struck out the next two. In the sixth, Mike Calabrese had a one-out single, but again Olen got out of the inning.

In both the seventh and the eighth, Dover put two runners on, and both times Olen escaped the jam.

“I don’t let it get to my head and I’m focused on the batter,” Olen said. “Whatever I do, I know my defense is going to back me up. Our defense was great. It helps when you’re pitching because you can just rely on your defense and you don’t have to make the batters strike out.”

Bedford took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sac fly by Justin Walsh. Post 54 could have had more, but Dover appealed that Bedford’s Joe Maher had left second base early on the play and Maher was called out to end the inning.

Post 54 added two unearned runs in the third and two more in the fifth on a two-run single by Ian Urquhart, making it 5-0 Bedford.

Two walks, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice got Bedford another run in the sixth, and Mike Skilton, who was named tournament most valuable player, and Maher each drove in a run in the seventh, putting Post 54 ahead 8-0. Tim Michaud led off the eighth with a double and came around to score on an error to make it 9-0.

Skilton finished the game with two hits, three runs and a walk, while Pat Parker also walked three times. The most interesting stat line belong to Maher, who didn’t record an at bat after walking three times before being hit by a pitch in the sixth and recording a sacrifice fly in the seventh. He also scored two runs.

Inside the numbers

Only one team averaged fewer runs than Bedford during the tournament, but yet Post 54 looked like the most dominate team in the state.

How? Bedford was the only team to allow fewer than five runs per game, and it really wasn’t even close. Post 54 gave up just two runs a game, including two shutouts, while Nashua Coffey Post 3 was second, allowing 5.75.

A bit surprising, since Bedford had averaged close to nine runs a game during the regular season.

“I think that’s an indicator of a good team, when you can win in different ways,” Conway said. “In the playoffs, we didn’t average a lot of runs, but our pitching and defense were there.”

Redemption

For a lot of the players, this championship makes up for what they were unable to do during their high school seasons.

A team comprised mostly of players from Merrimack and Bedford high schools, both groups came up short in their respective school tournaments.

“This is come closure,” Hudon said. “It is an all-star team from Merrimack and Bedford, which have two good high school programs. Last time I won a state championship, I was nine and it was my Little League team. That was exciting, but nothing more than this.”

First game: Dover 10, Rochester 9

Ian Seaward’s single in the bottom of the ninth scored Tyler Cash and Steve Carlberg to give Post 8 the opportunity to play for the championship Wednesday.

Seaward’s bases-loaded hit came just a half-inning after Tyler Thurber’s two-run double had given Rochester a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth.

Cash picked up the win despite allowing Thurber’s hit, while Carlberg pitched eight innings for Dover, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and three walks. Seaward finished the game 4 for 6 with four RBIs and two doubles, while Carlberg scored three times and drove in a run.

Kory Ferullo got the loss, as he allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in two innings of work. Starter Chris Tilton went just 1 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on one hit and four walks. Matt Griener, who pitched five innings Tuesday against Nashua, threw another five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and three walks.

Thurber and Grenier drove in two runs each for Rochester, which reached the last day of the tournament for the second straight year, but came up short again.