HUDSON — In the hours leading up to Wednesday night's decisive Game 3 of the American Legion Zone 4 championship, Hudson Post 100 manager Ryan Bowen reached out to scheduled starter Chase Donahue with a simple message of encouragement before such a big game.
“I texted him earlier today and said, ‘If you take this one pitch a time then you’re going to be fine,’ ” Bowen said.
Donahue turned in a performance anyone would consider more than fine. The ace tossed a six-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and one walk as his team clinched the title with an 8-0 victory over North County Post 129.
“He’s our guy — when we have a big game, it’s Chase’s ball,” Bowen said. “That’s the reason why he’s out there pitching today and why he pitched in our first playoff game on Thursday, and he’ll be pitching as soon as he’s eligible in the state tournament.”
“The trust Coach Bowen and the coaching staff has in me is something that should never go unnoticed,” Donahue said.
While the box score depicts a dominant outing from Donahue, North County’s lineup still put him to the test on three near-identical situations. Ty Curtis and Johnny Losordo reached base to lead off the first, third and fifth innings to bring up the heart of North County’s order, but Donahue buckled down and struck out the next two hitters in the first and third and forced a double play and lineout to end the fifth.
“I think we have four or five pitchers on our staff, and we’ve all been in spots like this, Bowen said. “It’s pretty big that we’re able to pass along that wisdom and have him be able to relax and let him know that it’s going to get hairy sometimes, but if you work hard, you can get out of it.”
“Confidence was key,” Donahue said. “The last couple years I’ve definitely lost that feeling, but I knew with the order coming up that we had a game plan, and if I stuck to it, there was a damn good chance that I was going to get out of it.”
Hudson’s lineup scored five runs over the first two innings to give Donahue early breathing room, and did it with timely hits and savvy base running. Leadoff hitter Marshall Kehlhem singled in the first, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and took home on a double steal in tandem with Donahue, who then scored on a single by Dan Demerjian.
“Early in a close game, we’re looking to play small ball to get a lead and trying to get an edge any way we can,” Bowen said. “(Marshall’s) been unbelievable for us on the bases all year. I think today he might have got up to 40 steals on the year, which is insane to think about considering we haven’t had a guy have more than 20 that I can think of. He’s been huge for us all year, and we knew if he got on, he was going to be a threat.”
North County starter Joe Laprade dealt with command issues in the second inning when he walked the first three batters and eventually a fourth to bring in a run, after an RBI single by Bobby Long and a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
Hudson No. 9 hitter Anthony Moura reached base on his three plate appearances, with two walks and an RBI double, Chase Barrett (RBI double) and Donahue (RBI single) delivered insurance runs in the sixth.
With the American Legion State Tournament starting this weekend, Bowen acknowledged that not only is Post 100's first game being played close by in Worcester — at Fitton Field, 10 a.m. Saturday — but also will face a familiar foe in former Zone 5 rival Lowell Post 87.
Host Shrewsbury Post 397 takes on Needham Post 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the fourth and final first-round game Saturday, of the double-elimination tournament.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that have a lot of experience, and it’s just fun to come to the baseball field every day, so I think as long as they get to do that, I think we’re all going to be pretty happy,” Bowen said.
—Contact Zachary Stuczko at zachary.stuczko@telegram.com.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'When we have a big game, it’s Chase’s ball': Donahue sharp as Hudson stops North County for American Legion Zone 4 title
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