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Box Score 4 CONCORD, N.H - Baseball's deep run in the YSCC tournament was cut short on Friday evening, falling to York County in a hard-fought, 14-12 battle in the semifinals.
The Lynx hosted UMaine-Augusta in the play-in round, using small ball late to come away with a 5-2 victory.
The Moose started with an early advantage, striking in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Gavin Abernathy. Abernathy's single led to a bases loaded situation but Lynx starter
Joseph Pericozzi induced a groundball to eliminate the threat.
Both Pericozzi and UMA starter Matt Donley both found a groove on the mound, shutting down offensive production leading to the sixth inning.
In the sixth,
Brayden Squires led with a leadoff walk, followed by a bunt single from
Maddux MacKenzie.
Travis Graf lined a single to drive in the game-tying run before
Josh MacDonald stepped up, placed down a bunt single and gave the Lynx a lead they never surrendered.
"They weren't expecting us to go small ball with our bigger hitters, especially Josh," said assistant coach Craig Lavigne. "He executed it perfectly and it really gave us the swing we needed."
The Lynx used the added momentum to score three additional runs in the inning, led by RBI from
Charles Hibbert and Killian Guathier, extending the lead to 5-2.
Pericozzi continued his dominance on the mound, recording an assist on the final out, sending his teammates into a tournament-clinching frenzy.
"Joe has been our go to guy," said head coach Tim Duval. "He earned this opportunity and gave us seven outstanding innings."
After earning their way to the quarterfinal round, the Lynx traveled to Central Maine for a matchup against the defending champions. The Mustangs struck in the first inning following a sacrifice fly from Brendan Mahaney. The Lynx threatened in the third inning, loading the bases following a pair of hits from
Zachary St. Onge and Squires, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. In the bottom half, CMCC plated another run, stretching the lead to 2-0.
Following a quiet fourth, CMCC added another pair of runs to their lead, extending their lead to 4-0 in the fifth before adding another three in the sixth to close out the 7-0 victory.
Dawson Babineau earned a shutout victory on the mound for CMCC, while
TJ Charbono struck out nine in five innings, giving up one earned run in the process.
Facing elimination three days later, NHTI scored all nine of its runs in the first three innings to secure a 9-7 win over second-seeded Southern Maine and advance to the semifinals.
The Lynx jumped all over Seawolves starting pitcher Aidan Dolan, opening with a St. Onge leadoff double. Graf and Darien Mercedes followed with singles of their own, driving in a run while loading the bases. Guathier walked to bring in a run before MacDonald and Ethen Weimer both added RBI to give the fourth-seeded Lynx a 4-0 lead.
Southern Maine answered with three runs in the bottom half, but the Lynx offense wasn't finished yet, adding five runs over the course of the next two innings, led by a three-run homerun from Mercedes in the top half of the second.
Brendan Ringman backed the offensive production on the mound, keeping the Seawolves at bay with three straight scoreless innings. The Seawolves broke through in the fifth, scoring two runs led by RBI from Tristan LaPlante and Noah Gaghan. In the sixth, Southern Maine added another run and threatened to add another with the bases loaded, but a timely ground ball induced by relief pitcher Nate Mattson ended the Seawolves' threat.
Mattson continued his relief effort into the seventh, catching Bryce Wilcox looking to slam the door on the Seawolves' season.
Later in the night, the Lynx offense stayed energized, opening with a three-run first inning against York County.
St. Onge opened the game with a walk before Squires lined a single to left and Graf worked another walk to load the bases. Following a passed ball and a York County error behind the plate, the Lynx quickly jumped ahead 2-0 before Gauthier added an RBI groundout to cap off the inning.
York County answered immediately with three runs of its own in the bottom half before erupting for five more in the second inning to reclaim momentum. The Hawks were fueled by a two-run triple from Caden Fontaine and a two-run single from Avery Conant, taking an 8-5 lead after two innings.
The Lynx continued to battle in the fourth, with Squires working a leadoff walk before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Gauthier delivered again with an RBI single to center before Hibbert added an RBI knock of his own to cut further into the deficit.
York County added another three runs in the fifth inning after Gabe Leitch delivered a two-run single to right field before Alex Golub brought home another run on a groundout, extending the Hawks lead to 14-9. Mattson limited further damage, retiring Jack Sullivan on a ground ball to strand a runner at third and keep the Lynx within striking distance.
NHTI answered in the sixth when Gauthier launched a solo home run to left field, his third hit and fourth RBI of the contest. Mattson followed with a strong bottom half of the inning, striking out Caden Fontaine and working around a pair of walks to keep York County off the board.
Trailing by four entering the seventh, the Lynx mounted one final push. St. Onge opened the inning with a walk before Mercedes lined a single to right field with two outs. Gauthier followed with another RBI single to center, scoring St. Onge and cutting the deficit to three. After MacDonald worked a walk to load the bases, Mercedes scored on a passed ball to bring the tying run into scoring position, but York County recorded the final out to escape with the 14-12 victory.
The semifinal run marked the end of the Lynx season, who finished with a 16-25 overall record. At Friday's tournament, both Travis Graf and Brayden Squires were awarded with All-Conference honors.
