Rochester Post 7 baseball gets two pitching gems in wins over Merrimack, Milford

NASHUA – Drew Healy knew there were a number of different ways Monday could turn out for the Rochester Post 7 baseball team.

Never did he think it would go the way it did.

Needing two wins, over Merrimack Post 98 and then Milford Post 23, Rochester was able to get both thanks to two unlikely performances on the mound.

Against Merrimack, Chris States pitched a two-hit shutout to lead Post 7 to a 4-0 win, setting up Josh Gagne – who was pitching on two-days rest – who tossed another complete game in a 9-1 win over Milford in the American Legion senior baseball state tournament at Holman Stadium.

“I’d say it’s nearly impossible,” said Healy, Rochester’s second baseman. “Those guys did their jobs (Monday). They pounded the strike zone and had great defense behind them and pitched unbelievable.”

Healy did his part in the win over Milford, going 3 for 6 with three RBIs, including one in the first inning that gave Rochester a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

“All our success in this tournament has come from this visitors’ dugout,” Rochester coach Steve Lambert said. “We won the flip and I took visitors. That’s something (the players) wanted.

“I’d rather be the home team and get that last at bat, but (the players) felt that getting on a team and jumping on them first is the right thing to do. I do, too. It was good to see those runs and have a shut down inning and score a couple more.”

The win gives Rochester the chance at repeating as state champions, something that hasn’t been done since Jutras Post 43 did it in 1996-97. To do it, Post 7 will have to beat Exeter Post 32 twice on Tuesday, starting at 4 p.m. Rochester beat Exeter to win last year’s title.

“It’s a big rematch,” Gagne said. “I thought at the beginning of the year we had a good chance to get back and to get there is great, but it’s never a given.”

In the second game Monday, Post 7 put at least two runners on in each of the first five innings against Milford starter Alec Burns, but Post 23 was able to keep it close, trailing 3-0.

Milford got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, when Burns led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Thomas Bennett.

But things began to unravel in the sixth. After getting the first out, Burns walked Anthony DiPriezio and Justin Jewell and was relieved by Mason Gaudette.

Gagne beat out an infield single to load the bases and Healy followed with a two-run single to make it 5-1. Gaudette got Mac Struthers to groundout, but Ben Gravel followed with a single, scoring two more runs to put Rochester up 7-1.

“It was a big lift off my shoulders,” Gagne said. “It felt great to get that four spot up there in the sixth inning and kind of take a big lead. I think from there on, we felt pretty good.”

Post 7 added two more runs in the seventh, and despite scoring nine runs, still managed to leave 15 runners on base.

Gagne went the full nine innings, allowing an unearned run on five hits and no walks while striking out 10. He also drove in two runs, while DiPriezio scored three times.

Burns took the loss for Milford, going 5 1/3 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits and seven walks. He also was 2 for 3 at the plate.

Rochester 4, Merrimack 0

States pitched a two-hit shutout for Post 7 as it stayed alive in the tournament with its third win of the season over Post 98.

States, who was making just his second start of the season, allowed singles to Tyler DeNeill and Chad Seaver, while walking three and hitting two. Merrimack (10-8) had one runner reach third when it loaded the bases in the seventh, but States was able to escape the jam.

Post 98’s Grant Coy also went the distance to take the loss, giving up four runs – two earned – on eight hits, one walk and two hit batters.

Rochester got all the runs it needed in the first inning, as DiPriezio drew a one-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and after Gagne was hit by a pitch, scored on a single by Jewell. The throw home was cut off as Gagne tried for third, but with no one covering the base, he reached safely and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Post 7 had opportunities for more in the second and third, Merrimack was able to get out of each inning by turning a double play.

Back-to-back errors to open the fourth helped Rochester load the bases with none out, and Post 7 got a run on a sacrifice fly by Rick Creteau, but Coy battled back to limit the damage.

Merrimack finished the season by going 2-2 and finishing fourth in the program’s first appearance in the senior state tournament.