Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Click here to download a PDF of today's front page

Huskies stun Mohawks, 7-0

Erickson hurls 5-hit gem

Jean LeBlanc

COLEBROOK— Nick Erickson hurled seven innings of five-hit baseball helping the Gorham Huskies to an exciting 7-0 victory over the previously undefeated and number one ranked Colebrook Mohawks in Colebrook Monday.
Erickson and catcher Tony Burnell worked very well at moving the ball to different parts of the strike zone keeping the Colebrook hitters off balance. Erickson changed speeds and rarely threw the same pitch in succession.
Not a single Mohawk player reached third base during the game and only on four occasions did a runner reach second base.
Behind him the Huskie defense was flawless, turning double plays in the first and sixth innings.
Offensively, the Huskies stung the ball all game long, rapping out eleven hits and scoring runs in five of the seven innings off of Mohawk pitchers Marquis and Eric Fothergil.
Burnell opened the game with a line drive triple the deflected off the Mohawk centerfielder's glove. After an out, Huskie shortstop Eric Jensen lofted a fly ball to centerfield that scored Burnell on the sacrifice fly and Gorham had a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Steven Flynn reached on an error. Mark Blunden and Cody LeBlanc walked to load the bases with no one out. Huskie leftfielder Riley Goodrich continued his fine play by hitting a deep fly ball to center to score Flynn, making it a 2-0 game.
The game cruised along through the middle innings with great pitching and solid defense from both teams.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Huskies got their offense on track against a tiring Marquis for Colebrook. Goodrich singled to open the inning. Burnell's sacrifice bunt to the first base side caught the Mohawks off guard and turned out to be a bunt for a base hit. After a fly out, Jensen ripped a single. Colebrook tried to get Goodrich at the plate, however it was too late and the throw was cut off. However, the Mohawks did cut down a Gorham base runner at third base on a bang bang play that could have gone either way.
Gorham's Dupont kept things going on a hit to centerfield. When the ball was bobbled in the out field, both Jensen and Dupont advanced into scoring position. Flynn made the Mohawks pay for the bobble by smoking a single up the middle knocking both runners in to give the Huskies a 5-0 lead.
Mean while, Erickson continued to frustrate the Colebrook hitters. A lead off single and a stolen base attempted to get the Colebrook bench and fans into the game. The Huskie right hander was "Maddax like" and struck out Gooch, got Richer to ground out, and Marquis flied out to end the inning.
In the Huskies sixth inning LeBlanc's grounder in the hole had eyes and went just out off the tip of Colebrook shortstop Ryan Call's glove. Brandon Sanschagrin came into pinch run for LeBlanc. Goodrich was at the plate and reached on an error putting Sanschagrin in scoring position. At bat next was Huskie lead-off hitter Burnell. He lined a sharp single to left, that allowed the speedy Sanchagrin to score on a close play at home plate. Gorham now led 6-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Gorham turned a perfectly executed 6-4-3 double play on the heart of the Colebrook line-up that included the number three and four hitters. The inning ended on a long fly ball to deep right center that Ryan Fauteux ran down extinguishing any thoughts of a Colebrook come-back.
The Huskies had one final at bat. Dupont led off the inning with long triple to deep right field. Flynn dug in at the plate and promptly went to left field for the hit. Flynn used a line drive single against the Colebrook shift they tried to use against the big left handed batter. Dupont jogged home with Gorham's seventh and final run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Colebrook ripped a pair of singles off between two fly outs. The Mohawks were again at the top of their order poised for ruining Erickson's shut-out bid. However, the crafty pitcher had the final say delivering the final knockout punch and getting Richer to lazily fly to centerfield to end the game and a most deserved win. The Huskies poured onto the field, congratulating Erickson for his splendid pitching.
For the game Gorham had eleven hits to go with their seven runs. Burnell owned three of the hits. Dupont and Flynn had two hits each, with Flynn knocking in three runs.
The victory elevated Gorham to 8-1 on the season. Colebrook is currently at 7-1 and play three more games this week.
The Gorham boys travel to Groveton on Wednesday and are back at the Gorham Common on Friday hosting the Lisbon Panthers.
Gorham 1 1 0 0 3 1 1 7-11-0
Colebrook 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-5-3
Gorham: Erickson and Burnell, Colebrook: Marquis, E. Fothergil (6th) and A. Fothergil, WP-Erickson, LP-Marquis.

Berlin's Harriman KO's Newfound girls 2-0

Jean LeBlanc

BERLIN— Senior Amanda Harriman struck-out sixteen Newfound batters, leading her team to a 2-0 victory over the Bears in Berlin Monday. The victory kept the Bears winless on the year at 0-8.
Harriman also played a key role in the Berlin offense. In the bottom of the first inning, Berlin freshman Trisha Falardeau reached on an error and went to second on a pass ball. The Mountie speedster eventually scored on a Harriman single up the middle for a 1-0 Berlin lead.
The Mountaineers picked up an insurance run in the third inning off of Newfound pitcher Cory McCowan. Kara Poirier bunted herself on base for an infield single. Poirier immediately stole second base and moved to third on a groundout. The junior speedster was then opportunistic with her base running. Poirier scampered home on an Ashley Lapointe groundout to the right side of the infield for a 2-0 Berlin lead.
That was all of the offense in the game. Both McCowan and Harriman pitched goose eggs at their respective opponents for the remainder of the game. McCowan gave up three hits while walking one batter and setting down eight Mountaineers on strikes.
Harriman gave up three hits in posting the shut-out victory. The hard throwing right hander allowed her team mates to only make five plays in the field for the game to go along with her sixteen k's.
Berlin coach Jerry Poulin said after the game, "Amanda pitched very well today. We've been stressing with her that she needs to change speeds more. Today she did that and kept Newfound off balance all game long."
The Berlin record improved to 9-2 on the year. The Berlin girls will travel to Prospect Mountain for their next game.
Newfound 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-3-2
Berlin 1 0 1 0 0 0 X 2-3-1
Berlin: Harriman and Falardeau, Newfound: McCowan and Wilson, WP-Harriman, LP-McCowan

Huskie bats too much for Moultonborough 13-7

Dupont records third pitching win

Jean LeBlanc

MOULTONBOROUGH— Gorham's Eric Jensen hit a three-run homer and Cody LeBlanc slapped out three hits, leading the Huskie's team in an 18-hit attack and a 13-7 victory over the Moultonborough Panthers Saturday.
The 10 a.m. start did silence the Gorham bats in the first inning. There was two outs when Jensen and Jeremy Dupont singled. Steven Flynn and designated hitter Doug Willey both walked to force in a run. Huskie third sacker LeBlanc quickly cleared the bases jumping on Panther pitcher Martin Lyon's first pitch and sending a one-bouncer off the centerfield fence for a double and a 4-0 Gorham lead.
On the mound for Gorham, Dupont was in search of his third win of the season. The Panthers nicked Dupont in the bottom of the second inning on Stirson's homer to left field making it a 4-1 score.
Gorham added a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Flynn singled and went to second on a ground out. LeBlanc singled moving Flynn to third base. Huskie left fielder Riley Goodrich singled to plate the Gorham runs and a 6-1 Huskie advantage.
The Gorham boys went back to work in the fourth inning and chased Lyons from the game. Jensen reached on an error and Dupont was hit by a pitch. Flynn cracked a double to knock in a run. Two outs later, pinch hitter Mark Blunden smoked a hit to knock in two runs extending the Gorham lead to 9-1.
However the Panthers refused to quit and got themselves back into the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases for the Panthers. McDonald hit a double to score three runs for the home team. One more hit and two Gorham miscues made the score 9-6 after four innings of play.
Moultonborough's ace pitcher Pat Moriarty replaced Lyons on the mound for the home team in the fifth inning. Moriarty held the Gorham offense at bay in the fifth and sixth innings.
Gorham went to freshman hurler Doug Willey to try and close out the final three innings. The Panthers manufactured an unearned run in the fifth inning to close the gap to 9-7. A walk, a sacrifice bunt, an error, and a single by McDonald plated the run.
The Huskies got the insurance runs they were looking for in the top of the seventh inning. After one out, consecutive hits by Burnell and Fauteux put runners on. Huskie number three hitter Eric Jensen and Panther Moriarty got into a great battle during Jensen's at-bat. Jensen was down in the count one ball and two strikes. The Gorham junior fouled off three tough pitches to stay alive at the plate. Moriarty grooved a fastball down the center of the plate that Jensen got all of and sent it deep into woods in leftfield for a 12-7 Huskie cushion.
Gorham wasn't done yet however. Dupont stroked a hard single and Flynn worked his second walk of the game. After the second out of the inning, LeBlanc ripped his third hit of the contest scoring Dupont giving the Huskies a six-run advantage.
The Panthers tried to make some noise in their final at bat. The bases were loaded with two outs when Willey got the Panther clean-up hitter Gasey to fly out to right field ending the game 13-7.
For the game, The Panthers had nine hits to go with their seven runs. The Gorham pitching staff of Dupont and Willey walked five hitters and struck two batters, while setting six down via the strikeout.
The Gorham offense rapped out eighteen hits, the top five hitters in the batting order and Goodrich all owned a pair of hits.
The Gorham team currently has a record of (7-1) and travels to Colebrook on Monday to face the number one ranked and undefeated (7-0) Mohawks at 4 p.m.
Gorham 4 0 2 3 0 0 4 13-18-3
Panthers 0 1 0 5 1 0 0 7-9-2
Gorham: Dupont, Willey (5th), and Burnell, Moultonborough: Lyons, Moriarty (5th), and Gasey. WP-Dupont, LP-Lyons, Homeruns: Gorham-Jensen (7th two on), Panthers-Stirson (2nd none on).

Fourth straight win for Gorham softballers; defeat Moultonborough, 11-6

Jean LeBlanc

MOULTONBOROUGH— The Gorham girl's softball team used two big innings to score nine of their runs and went on to defeat the Moultonborough Panthers 11-6 in a girls class S softball game in Moultonborough Saturday morning.
The Gorham girls got off the bus and posted five runs in the first inning. Hillary Oleson and Julieann King walked to open the game. Brittany Raymond was next at the plate and her hot shot to short couldn't be played allowing Oleson to score. The Huskies continued their assault on Panther pitcher Jenn Calzada. Valerie King had an RBI single and Alex Horne pushed another run across the plate on a groundout. Brittany Collia reached on an error. Freshman Mallory Coulombe followed with a double to knock in two more Huskies for a 5-0 lead.
The Panthers were not about to roll over and be hospitable hosts. The long time perennial powerhouse softball team posted four runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for the Panthers. A key double by Liz Veracka in the inning got the Moultonborough girls back to within a run at 5-4.
The Gorham girls scored a single run in the top of the third inning. Horne singled to help her cause and was lifted for courtesy runner Tara Cloutier. A wild pitch and a ground out got the freshman speedster to third base. Senior Lindsey Aubin drilled an RBI double to right center to plate Cloutier giving the Huskies a 6-4 edge.
The visiting Huskies put some comfort in their lead with a four run up-rising in the fourth inning. Oleson tripled to center field to open the fourth inning. Julieann King singled in Oleson. Raymond singled to put two runners on. Horne helped her cause again by doubling two more runs across the plate with her clout to right centerfield.
Collia followed Horne by knocking her RBI double to left field lifting the Gorham lead to 10-4.
The Panthers tried to make a come-back in the bottom of the sixth inning. Panther Kelley Murphy singled and moved to third on two wild pitches. Taylor Joyce worked her at-bat for a walk. A throwing error allowed Murphy to score from third base. Joyce was plated on a ground out to make it a 10-6 game after six innings.
The Gorham girls tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. Aubin crunched her second hit of the game. Pinch runner Meghan Lapointe ran for Aubin. Coulombe singled and Breally Bunch hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Lapointe allowing Gorham to cruise to the 11-6 victory.
For the game, the Huskies pounded out eleven hits. Moultonborough's Calzada walked three and struck out six Gorham batters.
Horne was very tough when she needed to be for the Lady Huskies. The hard throwing sophomore walked four, struckout six, and limited the very potent Panther offense to just six hits, in earning her fifth victory of the year.
Gorham will be back on the road Monday afternoon. The Huskies square off against the Colebrook Mohawks at 4 p.m.
Gorham 5 0 1 4 0 0 1 11-11-1
Panthers 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 6-6-2
Gorham: Horne and Oleson, Panthers: Calzada and Torressen, WP-Horne, LP-Calzada.

Mounties roll past Mascoma girls, 12-7

Jean LeBlanc

CAANAN— The Berlin girl's softball team stroked out eighteen hits and went on to defeat the Mascoma Royals 12-7 in Caanan on Friday.
The Mountie ladies scored in every inning except for the seventh, keeping Mascoma pitcher Olivia Darisse in constant hot water.
In the first inning, Berlin scored a pair of runs. Kara Poirier singled to open the inning. She was followed by Trisha Falardeau's double to put runners at second and third. Senior Ashley Lapointe singled to knock in both runners and a 2-0 Mountie lead.
Mascoma answered Berlin in the Bottom of the first inning against Mountie starter Amanda Harriman. The Royals pushed across three runs to take a 3-2 lead.
Berlin scored three runs themselves in the top of the second inning. Andrea Dupont singled, Mallory Brodeur followed with a single, Jodie Croteau had a fielder's choice, Falardeau knocked in two runs on her single, and Falardeau scored on Lapointe's RBI double for a 5-3 Berlin lead.
In the third inning, Berlin's Mallory Morin launched a double and moved to third on a ground out. The senior then scored on a Mascoma miscue for a 6-3 lead.
The Royals answered with a single run of their own in the bottom of the third inning. A triple and a ground out produced the 6-4 score at the end of three innings of play.
Lapointe's ball hit to right field fueled the Berlin up rising in the fourth inning. Harriman followed with a single. Team mates Morin and Hilary Lemelin followed with RBI singles lifting the Berlin advantage to 8-4.
Berlin continued their theme of scoring in every inning. In the fifth, Poirier walked. Falardeau singled moving Poirier into scoring position. Lapointe dug in at the plate and for the third time in the game, she produced an RBI hit making it a 9-4 Berlin lead.
Junior Kara Poirier took over the mound chores in the fourth inning. Poirier was nicked for a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, during her four innings of work.
The Berlin ladies completed their scoring in the sixth inning. Lemelin singled and was followed by an Aja Lessard single. A Mascoma error loaded the bases for Berlin's Carissa Caron. Caron's blast was a ground rule double plating two runs. Poirier capped the Berlin scoring with an RBI single of her own, making the score 12-6 at the end of six and a half innings of play.
The pitching duo of Harriman and Poirier combined to strikeout five Mascoma batters, with four being given free passes.
Darisse went the distance for the Royals, setting down eight Berlin hitters on strikeouts and walking just two.
The win puts the Berlin record at 8-2, while the Royals are at the .500 mark at 5-5.
Berlin will play host to Newfound on Monday.
Berlin 2 3 1 2 1 3 0 12-18-2
Mascoma 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 7 -6 -4
Berlin: Harriman, Poirier (4th), and Falardeau, Mascoma: Darisse and Klunder, WP-Poirier, LP-Darisse.