The Concord Post 158 baseball team has played well to start the American Legion summer league, but there’s just one area that the team has been inconsistent – defense.
Concord’s defensive struggles reared their head again Wednesday against Hudson Post 100 at Emerson Playground. Playing with an early lead, the home team started to throw the ball around in the middle innings.
Hudson took advantage and eventually picked up the 8-6 victory in the District 5 contest.
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“I think we were a little shaky defensively, that’s what we talked about here afterwards,” Post 158 coach John Morrissey said. “We gave them a few extra outs. (Hudson) can swing the bats well. When you give good hitting teams extra outs they’re going to make you pay.”
Wednesday’s loss drops the team to 5-4 on the summer. Concord had been in first place in Zone A to begin the night, and it must now wait through the long holiday weekend before taking the field again.
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Post 158 returns to action at Emerson Playground against Reading on Tuesday.
Hudson Post 100 erased turned a two-run deficit into a four-run advantage with seven runs in the middle innings. The visitors sandwiched a pair of one-run innings around a fourth inning in which five Hudson players crossed home plate.
In the fourth, Zachary Graham had the big hit for Hudson. Following a one-run single by Jacob Wardwell, Graham knocked a bases-loaded single the drove in three runs and put Hudson ahead, 6-4.
Post 100 added one more run on catcher Joshua King’s groundout.
“We got a little messy out there, defensively,” Morrissey said, “and that really was our downfall.”
Morrissey relieved starting pitcher Dave Lishansky for Brendan Harrington in the middle of the fourth. Harrington cut off Hudson’s rally, but allowed its eighth run in the fifth inning.
Concord’s bats remained quiet until posting two runs in the sixth inning. Michael Woo smacked a triple deep to center field to score the first run, and Alex Gutwillig followed with an RBI single to cut Post 100’s lead to 8-6 and bring the tying run to the plate. But there it would stay as Post 158 couldn’t keep the rally going.
“It’s not going to work out for your every time, that’s the game,” Morrissey said. “We’re 3-1 on the week, so we’ll take that.”
Earlier in the game, Concord got on the scoreboard with a single run in the first inning and followed with three in the second. All three scored on a bases-loaded double to center field by Alex Nardone. He was subsequently thrown out trying to take third base on the play.
