Post 100 Wins Playoff Game, 3-2

by Bob McPhee
     
     DIXFIELD - When the situation surfaced, Tyler Gates knew exactly what to do and singled home Cliff Turner with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Swasey-Torrey pulled out a 3-2 stopper over Bethel in a Zone III American Legion baseball playoff game at Harlow Park.
      “Coach just told us to keep plugging away,” said Gates. “Those two double plays had hurt us earlier and it prevented us from getting runners on base. Aaron's (Fenstermacher) bad hop really set us up.”
     With two outs, Josh Palmer (3-2 pitch) walked and advanced on a wild pitch. Turner walked and Fenstermacher hit a ground ball that bounced over the shortstop's head and Palmer scored the tying run. “Late inning heroics,” said Swasey-Torrey coach Ryan Palmer. “This team has done it throughout the season and tonight was a good example. I had told Cliff that good things happen when he gets into a game and he was inserted later in the game and it paid off.”
     The team finished the regular season 11-7 and drew a No. 4 seed. It was the first-ever home postseason contest for Post 100.
     “It was nerve racking,” said Gates. Post 100 had beat Bethel twice. "Seeing them take a 2-0 lead was surreal. Ryan (Lafleur) was pitching a great game and we just couldn’t get going. But, we were able to come back.”
     Lafleur had 11 strikeouts and walked one in going the distance. In the last two starts, Lafleur had 24 strikeouts.
     Bethel received a solo homer by Jed Clarke leading off the second and TJ O’Connor had an RBI groundout in the fourth.
     ST finally got to Bethel pitcher Ben Fields (seven strike outs) by scoring a run in the sixth. Aaron Fenstermacher hit a leadoff single and with one out, James "Whitey" Moulton laced an RBI single. Moulton was clad in bright orange, knee high stockings. S-T had had limited chances early on, but couldn’t get going. David Guildford had hit into a 6-4-3 DP in the fourth. Eric Bolduc walked leading off the fifth, but Palmer lined in to a DP.
     "Danny Whitney is a helluva player,” said coach Palmer. “That was a terrible hop on the grounder. But sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And the boys seemed to like their high school coaches there (Dave Berry and Dave Lafleur) so that was nice to see.”