Norwood American Legion Baseball Team Take Series Lead in Eastern Sectional Finals-August 5, 1986

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Reflecting on the matchup, Lawrence coach Bob Lavallee noted, “We did this last year and we ended up wailing them in game two. I hope that we can make history repeat itself.”

The definitive story of the game was the masterclass pitching performance delivered by Norwood ace Bob Baxter. Scattering just three hits and racking up 13 strikeouts, Bob Baxter found himself in trouble only twice, escaping both jams through a combination of brilliant pitching and sharp defensive plays. Norwood coach Pete Wall praised his hurler, stating, “He pitched a great game for us.” Supporting their pitcher, the Norwood offense hammered out 16 hits and capitalized on four Lawrence fielding errors, though coach Pete Wall noted room for improvement after leaving 13 runners stranded on base: “We did the job but we still have to win another one.”

Norwood wasted no time mounting an attack against Lawrence starter Darrin Lamentagne. With one out in the first inning, Darrin Lamentagne hit Bob Goonan with a pitch, and Mike Wall reached safely when his grounder was misplayed. Following two outs, Dan O’Rourke smashed a sharp ball that tipped off the first baseman’s glove, allowing Bob Goonan to score the game’s opening run. Derrick Ghostlaw immediately followed with an RBI single to plate Mike Wall. Norwood extended its lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Mike Wall singled, advanced on a executed hit-and-run single by Dan O’Rourke, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Derrick Ghostlaw.

Lawrence (24-6) countered in the bottom of the third when Darrin Lamentagne reached on an error, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI single by George Evangelista. Bob Baxter then took matters into his own hands with a dazzling defensive play in the fourth inning. With a runner on second and one out, Bob Farrington blasted a rocket back up the middle. Bob Baxter snared the hard one-hopper and fired to Bob Goonan to double off the runner at second; Bob Goonan then threw to first from his knees to retire Bob Farrington and neutralize the threat. Norwood sealed the victory with a commanding five-run explosion in the eighth inning, featuring an RBI single by Mike Wall, a run-scoring single by Mike Generazo, and a towering three-run home run by Jim Delbou.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger

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