Sweeney Post 2 takes advantage of early mistakes to beat Dover Post 8

NASHUA – The margin for error in the American Legion senior state baseball tournament is small.

Sweeney Post 2 showed that Friday in its 5-4 win over Dover Post 8 at Holman Stadium, taking advantage of a handful of errors to score all its runs in the first three innings. Post 2 then held on as Dover settled in and chipped away until the final inning.

Also on Friday, Rochester Post 7 blanked Milford Post 23 2-0 in the first of two opening-round games. The first round continues Saturday with Lebanon Post 22 taking on Exeter Post 32 at 11 a.m. while Londonderry Post 27 faces Bedford Post 54 after that.

Connor Walsh picked up the win for Sweeney (14-5), as he went eight innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Walsh was also 3 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and three RBIs.

“Right now, it’s the best he’s swung all season,” Sweeney coach David Flurey said of Walsh. “He’s finding gaps, he’s driving the ball, he’s hitting fastballs and off-speed pitches. He’s probably one of the most dangerous players you’re going to see in the tournament. He doesn’t get rattled, at the plate or on the mound. He doesn’t take a bad inning on the mound to the plate.”

Walsh didn’t get help early from his defense, as Dover scored two unearned runs in the first inning on two Sweeney errors. But Post 2 made up for it late in the game, as it made a trio of plays defensively that preserved the lead.

“Defensively, our team stepped up and played well,” Flurey said. “We’ve been solid all year. The first inning might have been some jitters. It’s the defense we’ve played all season and it’s the biggest reason we’re here.”

Dover (11-8) had some miscues of its own, including the second inning, when an error with two outs and no one on turned into a bases-loaded situation for Walsh. He delivered, crushing a three-run double to right center and giving Sweeney a 4-1 lead.

On the mound, Walsh retired 12 of the next 14 batters he faced after the first inning, and it wasn’t until the sixth that Dover put more than one runner on base.

“He kept us off balance a little bit,” Dover coach Jake Bishop said. “He kept throwing that first pitch strike that we kept watching go by. He did a good job, went into the eighth inning for them. And he hit three bombs out there.”

Casey Aubin took the loss for Dover despite not allowing an earned run in his 6 2/3 innings of work. He gave up nine hits and walked five while striking out three.

But Aubin was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and stranded a runner at second in the fifth and sixth. Sweeney loaded the bases with two out again in the seventh but Evan Zuchowski came in to get the final out.

“I think we pretty much shut them down after the third inning on, so it was pretty much up to us at that point to try to close the gap,” Bishop said. “We just couldn’t put that last one across.”

In the first game, Rochester got a shutout from Josh Gagne, as he struck out 13 Milford batters in the 2-0 win. Justin Jewell and Mac Struthers each drove in a run to give Post 7 the win. Ryan Britton took the loss, going seven innings and allowing two runs on five hits and three walks.