SALEM, N.H. – The home dugout on the baseball diamond here at Salem High School hadn’t been the happiest place on earth before last summer.
The 2024 Salem Post 63 Legion team changed all that last July, surviving attrition and the opposition and pushing deep in the state tournament, ultimately settling for third place.
Along with the loud statement – Salem baseball is back – it was also a heck of a good time.
“More games, more experience, it was just a great time. The boys got closer with every win, and it led into the high school season,” said pitcher Cooper Deschene.
Deschene and fellow Post 63 members Aaron Masson and Jack Quinby parlayed that run into a Legion recruiting sales pitch, and baseball with “the boys” sold itself.
“In that run last summer, we only had 10 players in the tournament,” said Masson. “But everyone cares. Everyone cares. We put in the effort. A lot of guys were dealing with nagging injuries at the time. They played through it and pushed through, because we knew we had to. We didn’t have enough guys. Guys played different positions if they had to. Guys were there to win, not just to show up.”
As Post 63 opened up its summer season on Wednesday night against Londonderry Post 27, the dugout was packed. Numbers won’t be an issue for Salem this year, and the spirit/expectations here are pushing through the roof.
“I think we all see we’ve got something special here. We all see that we can win. We can win a lot of games. That’s what we’re here to do,” said Deschene.
What a difference a year makes! Post 63’s run provided a spark that the Blue Devils ignited this spring.
“Last summer showed Salem guys who weren’t used to winning what it’s like … (we had) three wins, four wins for a couple years,” said Masson. “Being able to go out and win last summer, that translated a lot to our spring season with Salem having a really good year. It was just great going into spring season. Going from this to spring, just kept it rolling.”
Deschene felt it, too, as the Blue Devils won a dozen games, including two in the playoffs to reach the Division I state semis.
“It might have started last summer, I think. We were winning a lot. We got the urge. We wanted to fight for the championship. And then, it was the last year of high school for a lot of us, so we wanted to fight for every win,” said Deschene. “We’ve just got a lot of talent and a drive to win.”
Post 63 has restocked nicely.
Salem sluggers Elias Mercedes and Dom Toscano will anchor the lineup. NEC-bound catcher Owen Doherty will be behind the plate and talented athletes like Windham’s Josh Martino and Joe Coviello will aid the cause.
“I’m excited. A lot of people know each other. We did really well last year. We’ve done a lot of team work together. A lot of time spent together, especially over the winter. So, we’re ready to go,” said Masson, who will play at Wentworth next year.
“We’re going to be competitive. We know a lot of this is summer ball, making sure your ready to go at that next level (either in high school or college ball). Overall, everyone is here to win.”