RallyNorth.net

Treff homer powers Salem into semifinals

Saturday, June, 05 By Jeff Hamrick

SALEM, NH — In a state quarterfinal game suspended a half hour by lightning, Salem’s Josh Treff abruptly ended it with a blast of his own.

The junior captain capped a four-run seventh with a two-run homer as the fourth-seeded Blue Devils upended Timberlane 7-5 yesterday. The victory sends Salem into a Tuesday showdown with top-seeded Nashua North at Holman Stadium.

After watching the 12th-seeded Owls (10-11) take a 5-3 lead with two runs in the top of the seventh, Salem (14-7) scored its first two runs in the bottom of the frame despite not hitting the ball out of the infield, setting up Treff, who came to the plate with one out and Jordan Estevez on second. Two fastballs later, Treff took Londonderry’s Matt Faia to straightaway center for his fourth home run of the season and the victory.

“We were just trying to get a rally started base hit by base hit,” said Treff, who also singled and scored in Salem’s three-run third. “We usually have one big inning in a game and that usually gets us by.

“With Jordan on second, I was just trying to get a base hit. I thought it was just going to be a pop fly to center field, but it kept carrying. I saw that (center fielder D.J. Travaglini) bumped into the fence. I wasn’t sure if he caught it or not. But then I heard everyone yelling, and then I looked at the umpire. It didn’t really hit me until I rounded third and saw everyone there waiting for me.”

Salem jumped to a 3-1 lead in the third with two-out singles by Estevez and Treff and a two-run triple to left by Joe Morin, who then scored on the first of Timberlane’s three errors.

Two days after Nick Poore threw a one-hitter in Salem’s opening round 2-1 victory over Exeter, Blue Devils’ starter Dan Peters was en route to another solid outing. The sophomore held Timberlane to single runs in the third on an RBI single by Faia and fifth on a double by Travaglini and a ground out by Ryan McCarthy. Peters threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 25 batters he faced before being relieved by Rob Libetore in the sixth with one out and runners on second and third. Libetore allowed the tying run on a suicide squeeze by Dan Armstrong.

“That wasn’t planned at that time,” Salem coach Dan Keleher said about the pitching change. “But Dan might have been gassed at that point.”

The Owls appeared to take command in the top of the seventh when a hit batter, two sacrifice bunts and a Salem throwing error set up Lucas Alper’s two-run double to take a 5-3 lead.

But two infield singles, two Timberlane errors and a fielder’s choice allowed Salem to tie the score and set up Treff’s moment soon after.

“Good players and clutch situations, we’ve done it all year,” Keleher said. “We’ve done it all year. It’s all them, but they’re used to it. I can’t tell you how many close games we’ve had all year.”

The Salem coach said Poore will take the mound Tuesday for the Blue Devils, who defeated Nashua North 8-5 on April 19.