Nashua South baseball pummels Nashua North

NASHUA – Typically, Battle of the Bridge games come down to the wire. That was not the case on Wednesday afternoon at Holman Stadium.

The Nashua High School South baseball team utilized a six-run second inning and a five-run sixth during a 15-3 six-inning triumph over Nashua North.

“We preach aggressive base running, and in high school baseball whoever makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win the game,” said South coach James Gaj. “You have to make sure you take advantage and capitalize on the other team’s mistakes and that is what we accomplished (Wednesday).”

The Panthers (2-2) were led by Ryan Lopez (3 for 3, double, walk, two runs), Mason Matylewski (3 for 4, double, walk, two RBIs, two runs), Chris Keefe (2 for 3, double, walk, two RBIs, two runs), Albert De La Rosa (2 for 5, two RBIs, two runs) and Roy Santiago Sanchez (2 for 4, three runs).

Senior Trevor Kelly recorded a two-hit day for the Titans (2-4) including a double and two runs scored. The Panthers held a 14-5 edge in hits, as South starting pitcher Dante Young earned the win on the mound, striking out four and only giving up two hits and one run in four innings.

The Titans got on the board first, drawing a trio of first-inning walks, as a one-out sacrifice fly to left with the bases loaded by Anthony Gallinaro plated Kelly.

The Panthers went to work in the top half of the second, posting six runs on five hits, while taking advantage of three walks. South did all the scoring with two down, and De La Rosa put the Panthers in the lead for good at 2-1 with a two-run single to center, plating Jake Smith and Santiago Sanchez. A one-run single to right by Smith allowed Matylewski to cross the plate and give South a 6-1 lead.

“The guys were really hungry and focused,” said Gaj. “In a weird way, not playing that many games made them more hungry to win because they wanted to remember what that felt like. Top to bottom I really like our lineup this year. It is probably the best overall lineup that I have had since I have been here. We feel like we have a lot of guys that we can plug into a lot of different places and they can go ahead and make things happen.”

The Panthers hit the scoreboard with another three runs in the third. Keefe picked up an RBI single to second, Lopez scored on a wild pitch, and then with two-down, Matylewski connected on an RBI single to center, pushing the cushion up to 9-1.

An RBI double by Keefe down the left-field line gave the Panthers a 10-1 lead with two down in the fourth. Kelly led off the fifth with a single through the left side for North, and eventually scored an unearned run as a result of a pair of infield errors by the Panthers.

The Panthers scored five more in the sixth with three coming as a result of steals, wild pitches and passed balls. A two-out RBI single to short in the bottom of sixth by Titans starting pitcher Varun Lingadal ended the scoring.

“It is baseball, and you have to have a short memory pitch to pitch, out to out and at-bat to at-bat,” said Titans coach Zach Harris. “It is the name of the game and that is the mental side of it. There is just a lack of energy from the time we show up to the ballpark until the time that we leave it. That is on me and I am simply not getting our team prepared to play in games, and I need to do a better job of that. That is what I am going to reflect on (Wednesday) night, and I am going to figure out a way to get our team ready to play from the start of it.”

The Titans and Panthers will be back in action on Thursday at 4 p.m., with North playing Bishop Guertin at Holman Stadium and South traveling to Goffstown.