Windham Wood Bat League squad ends season with overall improvement

Windham junior Dylan Hanrahan takes a swing so hard that
his bat cracks in two during the Wood Bat League playoff
game at Sanford's Goodall Park on Friday, July 23.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

By Matt Pascarella

For the Beacon Pizza-sponsored Windham High School Wood Bat League baseball team, and it’s been a team-building season.

Since opening the year on June 15, their record of 1-13-1, does not reflect the progress the team has made at the plate and on the field. Windham took on Sanford at Goodall Park in Sanford on Friday, July 23 for the first game of the playoff season and despite Windham’s best efforts, Sanford advanced with a 13-0 win.

Windham got things going in the first inning against Sanford when junior Bob Wing crushed the ball and sent it to the outfield for a base hit. Junior Ethan Barker followed Wing and he also got a base hit. Junior Ryan Bernard was next to get on base after he sent the ball into the outfield. Wing put in a great effort to make it home but was tagged out.

In the bottom of the second inning, Windham showed concrete defense when sophomore Aiden Benish caught a pop fly and later Bernard did the same.

Sanford put two on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning.

Windham’s defense was ample in the third inning when sophomore Ryan Smyth and junior Nathan Jordan made great catches to send Sanford back to the dugout.

“We’ve definitely seen some improvements coming along,” said Windham Coach Cody Dube.  “It was nice tonight to have a consistent lineup for the whole game ... we took a lot of good at-bats; we’ve become more aggressive. If we’re striking out, we’re striking out swinging. The plate appearance improvement has been really nice to see.”

Bernard singled in the top of the fourth inning. Later, junior Dylan Hanrahan swung the bat so hard it split in two pieces.

Windham prevented Sanford from scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth when Wing threw the ball to junior Logan Marden who tagged a runner headed home.

The bottom of the sixth inning brought Wing with a stellar line drive catch.

Windham put up a good fight in the top of the seventh inning but could not catch Sanford.

“I think overall today we did really well at the plate,” said Marden. “We were being aggressive and hitting first pitch strikes. I think defensively the biggest thing was errors and we couldn’t come around to ourselves and make the ... plays that changed the game.”

In the Wood Bat League season, Marden felt the team hasn’t been able to come together and have some solid games. He said it was good to get out on the field and he thought that overall, everyone worked hard, the team was happy to play, and it was a fun season. <