By Jim Lockwood
Staff Writer

MANCHESTER - Ever since Goffstown's Dave Fradette provided late-inning heroics in Jutras Post's 12-8 victory against Keene in his team's first game of the season, Jutras has been on quite a roll, proving itself a legitimate title contender in the upcoming American Legion Baseball state tournament.

After defeating district foe Keene, Jutras lost only one game through Wednesday, July 6 - a 6-3 setback against Plymouth in a non district affair.

As of July 6, approximately halfway through the 2005 season, Jutras boasted an 11- 1 overall record and a 9-0 mark in District A action.

"We have power in our lineup," said Jutras head coach Tom French. "Our pitching has been pretty good as well."

Just six innings into its '05 campaign, Jutras used the bats to bust out. Facing a six-run deficit against Keene, the locals put five runs on the board in their sixth-inning atbat. Fradette later connected for a three-run homer in the seventh inning, giving Jutras a lead it would never relinquish.

The squad's powerful lineup also includes Goffstown's Tom Pavesi and Bedford's Nick Travelyn.

In a 19-2 seven-inning, mercy win over Londonderry at Gill Stadium on July 6, Pavesi piled up multiple hits, including a triple and five RBI. Travelyn and Phil Lamy also smashed triples.

In its only loss of the season, Jutras was missing four key hitters, one being Fradette. French said the absences were a factor in the game's outcome.

Pitching, too, will key Jutras in any postseason run, French added.

The Jutras starting staff is anchored by Goffstown lefties Darren McLean and Jamie Morin plus right hander Nick Cenatiempo.

McLean was the ace of Goffstown High School's squad this spring. And Morin posted a 2.92 earned run average in 12-1/3 innings of work as a freshman at the University of Vermont. Both southpaws prefer to mix pitches instead of bombarding hitters with a constant barrage of fastballs.

"They keep people off balance," French said of his left-handed hurlers.

The 6-foot-3 Cenatiempo is the hard thrower of the staff, French added.

With a stellar record, Jutras is in good position to claim its first state crown since 2003 and avenge a disappointing performance last year. Quite possibly, the team standing in its path is last year's state champion, Sweeney Post, which plays out of District B.

At the very least, French said he expects his club to claim a No. 2 seed for the state tourney. In the .04 postseason, Jutras was 2-2, defeating Rochester and Coffey Post of Nashua in thrilling late-inning fashion. But the boys squandered early leads against archrival Sweeney and Booma Post of Portsmouth for the team's two losses in the double-elimination classic.

This year's classic begins Saturday, July 30, at Gill Stadium in Manchester.

For now, Jutras will need to concentrate on finishing out the season the way it began and focus on grabbing wins against district foes Hudson and Keene.

Jutras was scheduled to host Hudson at Gill on Thursday, July 14, before traveling to Hudson on Wednesday, July 20.

The rematch with Keene is scheduled for Saturday, July 23, at Gill - the group's regular-season finale.

The Jutras roster also consists of assistant coaches Tom Lamy and Lonnie Emerton plus players Connor Badasarian, Joe Beaulieu, Matt Costa, Steve Desjarlais, Tom French, Tom Mac- Donald, Andrew McCarthy, John Nelson, Jeff Perkins, Andrew Schunk and Taylor Vesey.