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June 07. 2012 9:19PM
Div. II baseball semis: Boisvert, Lebanon eliminate 4-time defending champs
CONCORD — Portsmouth's reign atop Division II high school baseball is done.
Lebanon pitcher Brady Boisvert threw nine strong innings and drove in the winning run in the 10th as the third-seeded Raiders ousted the four-time defending champion and No. 2 Clippers, 2-1, in the Div. II semifinals at Memorial Field on Thursday.
Boisvert struck out six over his nine innings of work and it was his chopper down the third-base line that scored Jacob Davis in the top of the 10th for the winning run.
“I've been wanting to pitch against Portsmouth since I joined this team my sophomore year,” Boisvert said. “I finally got my chance and I took advantage of it.”
The win puts the Raiders (18-1) in the championship at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium against St. Thomas on Saturday, June 16, at 7 p.m.
Portsmouth, which had its national record 89-game win streak snapped earlier in the season, finishes with a record of 17-2.
The teams were tied 1-1 after nine and Davis made it to second on an error to open the 10th. He moved to third on a fielder's choice, and after a strikeout and failed squeeze during which Austin Pelletier reached first safely but Davis didn't come home on, Boisvert came up with the bases loaded and just one out.
He chopped a hit down the line that almost got over Portsmouth third baseman Matt Feeney's head. Feeney jumped up, got the ball off a hop, tagged third and tried to get the double play at first but his throw wasn't nearly in time.
Davis scored on the play to make it 2-1.
“I know I've got really-good speed,” Boisvert said. “I saw him jumping and I knew I was going to beat it.”
The first two hitters in the 10th made outs for Portsmouth before Dillon Crosby reached on a walk. Lebanon reliever Colin MacNamee then got Feeney to ground to short and end the game.
“We've been knocking at the door for four years, maybe seven or eight years now,” Lebanon coach Douglas Ashey said. “It's nice to get (to the finals).”
It was a pitching duel for most of the game. Boisvert tamed the Portsmouth offense, surrendering just three hits but walking five and giving up just the one run, which put the Clippers up 1-0 in the third inning.
On the other side, Ricky Holt gave up four hits over nine innings of work, walked one and struck out five. He was charged with both runs as he started the 10th on the mound.
“It was a great pitchers' duel,” Ashey said. “That was really good New Hampshire baseball there.”
Portsmouth struck first when Feeney drove in Mac Allen with a single in the third to make it 1-0. Lebanon came right back with one of its own in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Cooper Hardy.
Other than that, it was all pitching. Holt retired 12 straight Raider hitters at one point and Boisvert seemed to have good control of all his pitches all day.
The Clippers did put a couple of charges into the ball in the eighth inning with both Feeney and Holt sending shots to the warning track in center field, but they were never able to get a runner past second base after the third inning.
“They executed and did the things they needed to do,” Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said about Lebanon.
St. Thomas 5, Bedford 0: Bean pitched a complete game shutout to lead top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas of Dover in the nightcap.
Bean gave up just two hits, didn’t allow a base runner past second base and struck out nine in a dominant performance for the righty, who was recently named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
He got all the offense he needed when the Saints (18-1) pushed across two runs in the third inning. Sean Michael Fitzgerald scored the first when he came home from third base on a wild pitch and Arran Maran drove in the second with a blast to deep left field to make it 2-0.
They tacked on three more insurance runs during a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. One run scored on a single by Connor Kennedy, the second came home on a throwing error by relief pitcher Ryan Mossman and the third scored on a wild pitch for a 5-0 lead.
Ryan Gancarz suffered the loss for the Bulldogs (14-5). He went four innings, gave up two runs and struck out four while walking five.
Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.
Lebanon pitcher Brady Boisvert threw nine strong innings and drove in the winning run in the 10th as the third-seeded Raiders ousted the four-time defending champion and No. 2 Clippers, 2-1, in the Div. II semifinals at Memorial Field on Thursday.
Boisvert struck out six over his nine innings of work and it was his chopper down the third-base line that scored Jacob Davis in the top of the 10th for the winning run.
“I've been wanting to pitch against Portsmouth since I joined this team my sophomore year,” Boisvert said. “I finally got my chance and I took advantage of it.”
The win puts the Raiders (18-1) in the championship at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium against St. Thomas on Saturday, June 16, at 7 p.m.
Portsmouth, which had its national record 89-game win streak snapped earlier in the season, finishes with a record of 17-2.
The teams were tied 1-1 after nine and Davis made it to second on an error to open the 10th. He moved to third on a fielder's choice, and after a strikeout and failed squeeze during which Austin Pelletier reached first safely but Davis didn't come home on, Boisvert came up with the bases loaded and just one out.
He chopped a hit down the line that almost got over Portsmouth third baseman Matt Feeney's head. Feeney jumped up, got the ball off a hop, tagged third and tried to get the double play at first but his throw wasn't nearly in time.
Davis scored on the play to make it 2-1.
“I know I've got really-good speed,” Boisvert said. “I saw him jumping and I knew I was going to beat it.”
The first two hitters in the 10th made outs for Portsmouth before Dillon Crosby reached on a walk. Lebanon reliever Colin MacNamee then got Feeney to ground to short and end the game.
“We've been knocking at the door for four years, maybe seven or eight years now,” Lebanon coach Douglas Ashey said. “It's nice to get (to the finals).”
It was a pitching duel for most of the game. Boisvert tamed the Portsmouth offense, surrendering just three hits but walking five and giving up just the one run, which put the Clippers up 1-0 in the third inning.
On the other side, Ricky Holt gave up four hits over nine innings of work, walked one and struck out five. He was charged with both runs as he started the 10th on the mound.
“It was a great pitchers' duel,” Ashey said. “That was really good New Hampshire baseball there.”
Portsmouth struck first when Feeney drove in Mac Allen with a single in the third to make it 1-0. Lebanon came right back with one of its own in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Cooper Hardy.
Other than that, it was all pitching. Holt retired 12 straight Raider hitters at one point and Boisvert seemed to have good control of all his pitches all day.
The Clippers did put a couple of charges into the ball in the eighth inning with both Feeney and Holt sending shots to the warning track in center field, but they were never able to get a runner past second base after the third inning.
“They executed and did the things they needed to do,” Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said about Lebanon.
St. Thomas 5, Bedford 0: Bean pitched a complete game shutout to lead top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas of Dover in the nightcap.
Bean gave up just two hits, didn’t allow a base runner past second base and struck out nine in a dominant performance for the righty, who was recently named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
He got all the offense he needed when the Saints (18-1) pushed across two runs in the third inning. Sean Michael Fitzgerald scored the first when he came home from third base on a wild pitch and Arran Maran drove in the second with a blast to deep left field to make it 2-0.
They tacked on three more insurance runs during a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. One run scored on a single by Connor Kennedy, the second came home on a throwing error by relief pitcher Ryan Mossman and the third scored on a wild pitch for a 5-0 lead.
Ryan Gancarz suffered the loss for the Bulldogs (14-5). He went four innings, gave up two runs and struck out four while walking five.
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Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.
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