Winnacunnet baseball walks-off with 6-5 Division I win over Seacoast rival Portsmouth
HAMPTON – The old adage ‘it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’ applied to the Winnacunnet High School baseball team in its Division I clash with Seacoast rival Portsmouth on Monday at Tom Blair Field.
The Warriors trailed 5-1 going into the fifth inning, but scored three runs in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh to walk off with a 6-5 win over the Clippers.
Winnacunnet senior Timmy Knight, with the bases loaded, was hit by a Devin Driscoll pitch on a 3-1 count scoring Mason McDonald with the game-winning run and sending the Warriors into an on-field celebration.
“This team has some talent on it,” Knight said. “We just have to work together, and we’ll get there.”
It was the second straight win for Winnacunnet, which improved to 3-4 on the season.
“It was a good team effort against a good team,” Winnacunnet head coach Aaron Abood said. “Portsmouth is always strong. They are well-coached, and they have some good players. It’s always good to beat your neighbor.”
It was the third straight loss for Portsmouth, which fell to 2-3. Portsmouth had the lead in the fifth inning in all three of its losses.
“Close games like this, mistakes get compounded,” Portsmouth head coach Tim Hopley said. “We’re not putting the lifeboats in the water like it’s the Titanic or anything, but we better find a way to get better in a lot of these small areas pretty fast.”
Portsmouth strands pair in seventh
Portsmouth stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh. Driscoll laced a one-out double to the right field fence, sending Porter Lalime, who reached on a fielder’s choice, to third.
Abood then summoned hard-throwing senior right-hander Jones Vicinus from first base. Vicinus struck out Zavier Lampert swinging for the second out, and Nick Gladu flied out to Jaxon McDonald in left, keeping the game tied.
“I knew I was in a tough spot,” Vicinus said. “I knew I had to get one strikeout there and then (MacDonald) made a nice play out there in left.”
Warriors walk it off
Vicinus grounded out to third to start the Winnacunnet seventh. Driscoll then issued consecutive walks to Mason McDonald and Jaxon McDonald before Connor Fowler singled to center, loading the bases.
Driscoll then got Harvey Reynoso to fly out to right before Knight, the lead-off hitter, was hit by a pitch.
Clippers foiled in the sixth
Tucker Huskey reached on a one-out error to start the Portsmouth sixth. He advanced to second on a balk, to third on a Gar Hingle single to right, and Joe Zingariello walked, loading the bases and chasing WHS freshman reliever Justin Coates.
Jake Carlisle squared up Fowler’s second pitch and the ball appeared to be going down the third base line for multiple runs. However, WHS third baseman Jackson Larck snared the low liner to his right, and beat Huskey back to the bag for the inning-ending double play.
“That was huge, that’s probably a couple of runs with a double down the line,” Abood said. “And (Vicinus) coming in and getting a strikeout and a lineout in the seventh was huge as well. That’s what you need; you need seniors coming through and making big plays when you need them to.”
Getting offensive
Fowler had two hits for the Warriors, while Miles Pratt, Alex Santora, Mason McDonald all had one. For Portsmouth, Hindle had two hits, and Carlisle, Patrick Bancroft, Lalime, Driscoll, Lampert and Huskey all had one.
Up next
Winnacunnet hosts Memorial on Wednesday, and Portsmouth hosts Bedford.
“Any win is a good win,” Abood said. “Happy the kids hung in there and we didn’t get down. We didn’t make 5-1 into 8-1 or 9-1. We hung in there and the bats came around at the end. Honestly, Division I baseball anyone can beat anyone, so anytime you can get a win, that’s a good one.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Winnacunnet baseball walks-off with win over Seacoast rival Portsmouth
