Souhegan pulls out win over Milford

AMHERST – The Souhegan High School baseball team has turned comebacks into a habit this season.

But the Sabers haven’t had any like Wednesday’s 11-10 win over Milford.

First, Souhegan was winning by five runs. Then by three runs. Then Milford was winning by two runs. Then by five runs. And then Souhegan tied the game in the sixth before winning it with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Not exactly what would be expected when an undefeated team takes on a winless team, but both squads had the pendulum of emotion swing to each extreme at some point during the game.

For the Sabers, it was their fourth come-from-behind win of the season, and moved them to 8-0 on the year. For the Spartans, it was a tough loss in a season that’s become filled with them.

“We made strides today,” said Milford assistant coach Keith Jones, who managed the final 1 1/3 innings for the Spartans after coach Bret Jepson was ejected for arguing a call. “This is the first time we’ve played a good team. The kids are working hard and starting to come out of their shell in practice.”

Souhegan scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of Milford’s youthful pitching and defense. The Sabers sent 10 batters to the plate and it seemed like it might be a short afternoon for both teams.

But in the top of the third, the Spartans started to chip.

Bryan Airoldi led off the inning with a solo home run. Cam Douglas added another, scoring off a single by Alex Simo. Milford was in position to get more, loading the bases with one out, but a base running error led to an inning-ending double play.

The Spartans did get more in the fourth, as the first four batters reached and scored. By the time the inning was done, Milford held a 7-5 lead.

“I think we get a little lackadaisical sometimes,” Souhegan catcher DJ Petropulos said. “We’ve got to learn to pick it up and play the way we can the whole game.”

Sophomore Sean Stroehlein came on in relief for Milford in the fourth inning and was able to keep Souhegan off the board for the fourth and fifth. He helped his cause in the sixth, belting a three-run home run to make it a 10-5 game entering the bottom of the sixth.

And that’s when things got interesting.

With one out, Nick Hession beat out an infield single, scoring Chris Almeida to make it 10-6. After Kyle Beaulieu walked, Stroehlein struck out Terry Dugdale for the second out, but he walked Chris Chininis to load the bases.

George Mukai followed by hitting a shot to centerfield and the ball appeared to bounce and go over the fence. Milford centerfielder Matt Scott raised his arm to signal the umpires, but, after a long discussion, the umpires signaled for a home run, tying the game at 10.

Jepson argued the call to no avail and was ejected for his efforts. Stroehlein bounced back to get Alex Lyon to fly out to center to end the inning.

Dugdale came in to pitch the top of the seventh and retired Milford in order. Stroehlein returned for the bottom of the seventh, but was relieved by Logan Danforth after allowing a leadoff single to Tyler Manoogian.

After Manoogian stole second, Jones elected to intentionally walk Almeida, and Petropulos singled on the first pitch he saw, scoring Manoogian with the winning run.

“I was just looking for a pitch to hit and I got one,” Petropulos said. “Our coaches did a really good job of getting us back into it. We were down a little bit earlier when they had the big inning.”

Mukai finished the day going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, while Almeida and Dugdale had two doubles each. Hession had two RBIs, two hits and three stolen bases.

Milford got a 3-for-4 day from Airoldi and Scott, and Douglas walked three times.

Both teams are back on the field on Friday, as Souhegan heads to Kingswood and Milford hosts St. Thomas.