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Londonderry upset by sixth-seeded Concord

Monday, June, 09 By Ryan Lambert
Staff writer

If he had to make the decision over again, Londonderry coach Wayne MacDougall still doesn't know what he would do.

With a runner on second and two out in the top of the sixth inning, he mulled walking Hilary Kane, Concord's best hitter, but opted not to, fearing clean-up hitter Jess Douillette.

He didn't give Kane an intentional walk, and she roped the first pitch into the gap in left center, breaking a scoreless tie. Douillette hit a single on the next pitch, and the game was all but over.

No. 6 Concord blanked No. 3 Londonderry 2-0 to advance to the Class L semifinals. Concord improved to 14-7 while Londonderry finished up at 17-4.

"I could have walked Hilary with first base open, but I was just as worried about the next kid to tell you the truth," said MacDougall, mindful that both hit homers in the Tide's first-round game. "I didn't think I would gain anything there, and we've had pretty good success with her all year. I guess if you wanted to second guess, that would be the play to second guess."

Through the first 5<2/3> innings, though, Lancers starter Brooke Beaudet was nearly untouchable. She struck out 10 of the first 15 batters and allowed just three hits, all singles, over that stretch. But as the game went on, it seemed that the sweltering heat, fatigue or both wore her down.

Concord's Paige Hansen allowed just two hits and fanned seven batters to earn the win, her second straight tournament two-hit shutout. Though Londonderry benefited from three Concord errors, and did have four runners reach second, none could advance to third.

MacDougall said, "She did a great job. We knew she would pitch well and if we didn't take advantage of the shots we had, then we would be in trouble. Four different times we got the runner to second, and if you don't get the hit, that's kind of it. I think if we had gotten an early lead, it would have been different."

Londonderry was also hurt by the cavernous outfield of Concord's Memorial Field, which is 255 feet to the fence down both foul lines and eight feet high. No ball hit all day came within 50 feet of the wall, but the Lancers had two that would have been out of most Class L parks. One member of the Memorial Field grounds crew said he's never even seen a girl hit the wall in the air.

"You take it away from them (by playing in Concord)," said MacDougall, whose club also lost to Concord late in the season. "The baseball teams all play in places where the home run is part of the game, whether it's Holman Stadium, the Fisher Cats' (stadium, Merchantsauto.com Stadium), I don't care where it is. At least it's part of their game, it should be part of ours."

The loss was a disappointing end for the Lancers, who graduate seven starters.

"These kids are really good," MacDougall said. "I'm disappointed for them, especially the seniors. Those seniors have been so good for me for so long. That's the hardest part."