North's Alek Morency pitched six innings to help the Titans beat Exeter on Friday.
NASHUA – The Nashua High School North baseball team has won games in different ways this season.
Against Exeter on Friday, the Titans made it through an unexpected nail-biter.
North scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning, and lead 8-2 heading into the top of the seventh before the Blue Hawks scored five unearned runs with two outs to make it a one-run game.
Kevin McGowan came on in relief to get the final out and preserve an 8-7 victory over Exeter. The win was the seventh in a row for the Titans, who moved to 11-3 in Class L.
“We did what we had to do, but we didn’t pound the ball,” North coach Will Henderson said. “We’re not always going to be our best, but we’ve got to find a way to continue to play. I think the kids work very hard at that. We’ve done it at least three, maybe four times, where we maybe didn’t outplay the other team, but we outsituationed them when it mattered, and we executed when it mattered. I’m proud of the guys for doing that.”
Alek Morency got the win for North, going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. Morency also struck out three and didn’t allow a hit through the first 4 1/3 innings.
Louis Tarantino, Joe Breen and Cam Duval each had two hits, while Duval and McGowan drove in two runs each. Anthony Guidice, Adam Leith and Brandon Karkhanis also had a RBI each.
Ben Callahan suffered the loss for Exeter, as he went five innings and allowed all eight North runs – five of which were earned.
“Ben did a good job of keeping them off balance,” Exeter coach Kevin McQueen said. “They’re a great hitting team, we know we can’t make many mistakes. They were solid enough to string those hits together in that one inning, and that proved to be the difference.”
Breen led off the bottom of the second with a single, and after a strikeout, Leith singled on a perfectly executed hit-and-run when the shortstop moved to cover second base. The runners advanced on a double steal, where it looked like Exeter had Breen caught at third, but the North junior was called safe.
“We got a little lucky at third base in the second inning with a call,” Henderson said.
Keon Jenkins cuts off an Exeter hit in front of Kevin McGowan during Friday's game.
Instead of two outs with a runner at second, the Titans had two in scoring position. Breen came in on a wild pitch by Callahan, and Duval blooped single into shallow left to score Leith to make it 2-0. Karkhanis followed by singling through a hole in the opposite side, allowing Duval to score from second.
Tarantino then singled to right, giving North runners on first and second with one out. Guidice followed with a double to the right-center gap, scoring Karkhanis to make it 4-0. McGowan singled for North’s sixth straight hit, scoring both runners for a 6-0 lead.
Callahan then sandwiched strikeouts around another single by Breen to get out of the inning.
“We didn’t play perfect by any means, you almost have to against a team that’s as solid as them,” McQueen said. “That one inning, they hit the ball well. You’ve got to give them credit for that.”
The Blue Hawks finally got on the board in the fifth inning, scoring two runs off Morency, but North answered back in the bottom of the inning with two unearned runs to make it 8-2.
That’s where it stood going into the seventh, when Tarantino came on in relief of Morency. The Titans got the first two outs, but Exeter’s Tim Doucette extended the inning with a single to center.
Ethan Joyce followed with a walk and Louie Vigans reached on an error to load the bases. Jake Chase ripped a two-run single down the third base line, making 8-4, and Brad Tiernan crushed a three-run home run to left-center to pull the Blue Hawks to 8-7.
Henderson brought McGowan on in relief, and the senior forced Zeph Berman to ground out to second to end the game.
“We tried to stay in the fight,” McQueen said. “Any time you put the tying run in the batter’s box at the end, you feel like you made a game of it. I’ll give our guys credit for that.”