LONDONDERRY, N.H. – Nearly every spring, usually the two best Division I New Hampshire high school teams are neighboring schools, Pinkerton Academy and Londonderry.
Between the two programs, there are eleven combined state titles. The teams have met the last four years in the playoffs, including the last two state championship games with Londonderry winning 4-3 last June and Pinkerton winning 2-0 in 2022.
The two teams met again for the lone regular season meeting on Saturday morning. Pinkerton entered with a 10-0 record and Londonderry came in with an 8-2 mark and when the game was over, the Lancers made sure that their rivals no longer had a perfect record.
Londonderry scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the fifth inning, while Pinkerton struck out 12 times, had a couple of base running and defensive miscues which helped the Lancers come away with the 4-2 victory.
“We got off to a slow start. We got into tough situations, but the kids battled and I was proud of the way they stayed into the game,” said Pinkerton head coach Steve Campo. “I was proud of the way they kept fighting through it. You have to tip your cap to Londonderry, they are a heck of a team and they took advantage of some opportunities. We’ve got some stuff that we need to work on and we’re going to work on it and get better.”
Londonderry scored the two first inning runs on three singles, a RBI groundout and a passed ball. After Jaden Hamilton led off with an infield single, Owen Carey executed a perfect hit and run, moving Hamilton to third and he scored two batters later.
“That first inning, they just hit the ball where we weren’t. Then they hit a slow roller inbetween first and second (on the hit and run) and we had some confusion on who was covering the base,” said Campo. “Against a team like Londonderry, if you get them extra outs, they are going to take advantage of it. They are very, very good offensively.”
Pinkerton managed just six hits in the game – all singles – and left eight runners on base, four in scoring position.
In the top of the fifth inning, trailing 2-1, the Astros had runners at first and second with one out when Brendan Horne singled to left. Leo Boucher rounded third and was given the stop sign by Campo. He slid head first back to the bag and it appeared that he was clearly safe but was called out. Jackson Marshall followed with an infield single, and the threat ended with a fly ball to right field.
Londonderry added two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 4-1. Pinkerton got one back in the top of the sixth on a punch-hit RBI single by Anthony Caruso to score John Hanlon, who led off the inning with a walk. Pinkerton stranded two runners on the sixth and then got a two out walk in the seventh, but the game ended on a called third strike, the 14th punch out of the game for the Lancers with six of them by looking.
“I think we broke away from our (offensive) approach a little bit,” said Campo. “The last couple of games we have been trying to go through the middle, through the middle and today it looked like we were trying to get back to pulling. We weren’t going the other way and dropping too much. It’s early May so we still have half the season to go. We’ve got a lot to work on, we’ll continue to work on it, I like where we’re at and I like the way the kids played.”
Londonderry 4, Pinkerton Academy 2
Pinkerton Academy (10-1) 001 001 0 -2 6 1
Londonderry (9-2) 200 020 x -4 6 1
Pinkerton: Brendan Horne ss 4-0-2, Jackson Marshall 1b 4-0-1, Hunter Brasier lf 3-0-0, Elijah Sharp c 4-0-1, John Hanlon DH 2-1-0, Mike Cioffi p 0-0-0, Jake Adrien p 0-0-0, Josh Jones 2-0-0, Leo Boucher rf 2-1-1, Cyle Archer cf 2-0-0, Anthony Caruso ph 1-0-1, Preston Libby 2b 2-0-0. Totals: 26-2-6.
Londonderry: Jaden Hamilton ss 3-2-1, Owen Carey cf 3-2-1, Brett McKinnon lf 3-0-0, Chet Jones c 3-0-0, Johan Pena 3b 3-0-2, Tyler Miles 1b 3-0-0, Ryan Williams rf 3-0-0, Jaylen Sott 2b 2-0-2, Jonathan Wilson dh 2-0-1, Devin Boles p 0-0-0, Brady Gillis p 0-0-0. Totals: 25-4-6.
RBI: PA, Caruso; L, Jones; WP: Devin Boles 5.1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 9K; LP: Mike Cioffi5 IP, 4 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2K; Save: Brady Gillis 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K.