For Alvirne’s baseball team to make the playoffs, the boys needed a small miracle coming into the week, needing Concord to lose both their games, Spaulding to lose their games, and for the Broncos to beat the fourth, third, and fifth-best teams in the state in Keene, Londonderry, and Merrimack, respectively. It was a tall task, but the Broncos had the same mentality as so many Alvirne teams throughout the 2023-24 school year, “why not us?”
On Monday, the gauntlet continued for Alvirne, as they picked up their second consecutive win while facing elimination, beating the Blackbirds 7-5 on the road in what could have been a second-round playoff matchup if the Broncos played their cards right.
Alvirne took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to some poor defense and lack of command for the strike zone, followed by a timely RBI single from Kyle Dufour and a double play off the bat of Devin Smith that scored a run.
They then pushed the lead to 7-0 in the third inning as Charlie Crawford walked to lead off the inning before stealing second and third base, Jameson Kruger struck out, Max Francisco reached on an error, Mikey Bebris singled, Logan Casey singled, Jaxon Polleck walked in a run, Bebris scored on a passed ball, Dufour walked, Casey scored on another passed ball, and Devin Smith drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Keene was held scoreless until they got on the board in the fourth with a run, then followed that up with four in the fifth to make it 7-5 Broncos. Mikey Bebris was able to come in and slam the door on the Blackbirds, however, picking up the save and keeping his team alive. Concord and Spaulding also did their part by losing their games on Monday night with Concord losing to Pinkerton and Spaulding losing to Bedford.
On Wednesday, Alvirne hit the road to take on their rivals in the Londonderry Lancers. They took home the win in that game by a final score of 7-5, as well while Concord dropped their final game of the regular season to Salem, eliminating the Crimson Tide from the playoffs.
Alvirne kept to the pattern of getting out to a lead early on in games as they took a 2-0 lead before even letting Devin Smith set foot on the mound. The Broncos got their runs off a Jaxon Polleck RBI single and then a bases-loaded walk from Devin Smith, who was able to help himself out early on.
Londonderry got a run back in their half of the first and tied the game at 2-2 in the second before Alvirne regained a slim 3-2 lead thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Kyle Dufour. The Lancers would tie things back up at 3-3 in their half of the third inning.
Alvirne quickly responded, however, scoring two in the fourth inning on a Logan Casey two-RBI hit. Londonderry would tie the game one more time, this time at 5-5 through four innings.
Alvirne jumped out to a 7-5 lead in the top half of the sixth, and after turning the ball over to Mikey Bebris once again in the fifth inning, the Broncos shut the Lancers down in the sixth and seventh innings and picked up their sixth win of the season, moving the magic number down to just two in order to make the playoffs. All they needed on Friday was a win against the Tomahawks and a Spaulding loss to the Central-West Knights.
On Friday, Alvirne celebrated senior night in a thrilling 5-4 walk-off win. They had, against all odds, done their part to keep their playoff hopes alive. Unfortunately, the clock struck midnight on Alvirne’s Cinderella run to the playoffs despite their best efforts as Owen Nesbitt and the Spaulding Red Raiders would end up beating the Central-West Knights in the nightcap.
As for the game at Alvirne, there have been very few games that have been more well-played by both sides at the barn in recent memory. Merrimack jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Alvirne answered back quickly on a two-RBI single from Jayden Alvarez to make it 2-1. The score held there until the fifth when Dylan Page was pulled in favor of Logan Casey, who allowed Merrimack to take a 4-2 lead on account of some sloppy defense and a lack of command on the mound for much of the inning.
In the sixth, Alvirne got one of the runs they were chasing back after Devin Smith led off with a double and was brought home on a Chase Mitchell RBI double. Mitchell’s double brought in Merrimack reliever Ryan Mainey to finish the job. Unfortunately for Merrimack, he was unable to do so, even after keeping the tying run at second with one out in the inning.
In the seventh, it was do-or-die for Alvirne, and it was clear the Broncos wanted to show off what they could do in the playoffs. Jameson Kruger led off with a single, Max Francisco reached on an error, Mikey Bebris doubled to tie the game, and Logan Casey was intentionally walked. Bases loaded, nobody out with the winning run 90′ away. On the 2-2 pitch, Mainey sailed the pitch to the backstop, allowing Francisco to score on the wild pitch, giving Alvirne a 5-4 win and keeping their playoff hopes alive.
Alvirne finishes the season at 7-11, missing the playoffs by just one win. If they had managed to beat Central-West, hang on against Bishop Guertin, or pick up any other wins, they would have made the dance, but unfortunately, they fell just short this season. It was a step in the right direction, however under Coach Colton Houle, who nearly brought Alvirne to the playoffs for the first time in three years after back-to-back 4-14 seasons