Miscues Haunt Cardinals

By Ray Curren
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — It was an all-too familiar scene for the Stevens baseball team Friday night at Barnes Park, but the 15-2 loss to Hanover under the lights did not come without some rays of hope, even if they didn’t show on the final scoreboard.

The Cardinals (1-8) scored first after senior Eric Peaslee followed junior Ty Theriault’s infield hit with a ringing double to right field, plating starting pitcher Zack Bundy. It was Bundy who kept the Bears (7-3) off-balance for much of the evening, throwing strikes and allowing Theriault to run down a couple of deep shots to center field.

Hanover took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on a John Hill double and that was the score with two outs in the top of the fifth before back-to-back Cardinals errors allowed the Bears to extend their advantage to 4-1. Bundy tired in the sixth, eventually getting replaced, which is when things — as they have in previous games this season — began to spiral out of control. Hanover scored three in the sixth (which would have been more if not for a Theriault dart to home to double up a Hanover runner at the plate), and then added eight more in what seemed like an interminable seventh inning.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been in this spot before,” first-year Stevens coach Bill Bundy said. “We have been ahead in some big games against some really good teams. We get four or five good innings and we seem not to be able to finish a game. In their previous home game, Stevens led Pelham 5-4 heading to the seventh before allowing 10 runs in a rainy 14-5 loss. Pitching has been tough for us, and we haven’t caught any breaks, either. Timely hits haven’t been coming. It just makes it tough to win. But we’re there.”

Bundy did not walk a batter in 5 innings, allowing six hits and just three earned runs, but six Stevens errors, a couple at key times, made things tough.

On the other side, Hanover sophomore Jake Toulmin settled in after a stressful first inning, retiring 15 of the next 17 batters. In all, Toulmin finished with 13 strikeouts in six innings, with the Bears recording 16 in total. Peaslee had both of Stevens’ RBIs, with he and Theriault combining for four of their team’s five hits (Cody Pellerin had the other).

“We just didn’t hit in the beginning of the game, but that’s the way it goes sometimes at this level,” Hanover coach John Grainger said. “You just have to outlast the pitcher until he gets tired. They struggled in the field a bit and gave us a couple of runs and that helped us, too.”

While obviously somewhat disappointed to be 1-8, Stevens has played in spurts with the best Division II (like Hanover) has to offer, and the second half of the schedule might have some opportunities for the Cardinals to get some wins and get back into the playoff picture. Stevens is at Souhegan Monday before taking on Newport in a doubleheader Friday, with the nightcap coming at Barnes Field. Friday marked Hanover’s lone night game on its schedule.

“We knew the front half of the schedule was harder than the back half,” Bundy said. “We just have to throw strikes and put the ball in play. We’ll play better. We hit more than any team in the division, I guarantee. We hit every night, we hammer the basics. We can win games going forward, and I think we will.”