By Jim Lockwood
Staff Writer

Jutras Post's catcher Stephen Desjarlais puts the tag on Dover's Ryan Lapointe in the third inning of the locals' 7-5 win in the first round of the New Hampshire Legion Baseball Tournament on Saturday, July 30, at Gill Stadium. Lapointe, who was trying to score on a single to right field, was thrown out by Dave Fradette. (Jim Lockwood Photo)

MANCHESTER – Competing in big postseason games is nothing new for the veteran players of this year's Jutras Post No. 43 baseball team.

Even when they were Little Leaguers, the core contributors of the Jutras 2005 American Legion baseball club were familiarizing themselves with winning championships.

Further, the perennial success of Jutras in the New Hampshire state tournament has afforded plenty of players the chance to succeed under the pressure of playoff baseball.

This summer, Jutras went 17-3 in the regular season and won the District B title. That feat earned the team a top seed in the '05 postseason tournament, which began at Gill Stadium on Saturday, July 30.

"We got the tools to win the championship. We've just got to put it together," said Bedford's Matt Costa, the team's starting right fielder. "We've got some of the best arms and the best hitters in the state. We've got the capability to beat any team."

Jutras was among the heavyweight teams in recent state tournaments. In '03, the last time the tourney took place at Gill Stadium, the team powered its way to the state title.

In addition to their annual expectations of playing for a state champion, athletes who wear the Jutras uniform expect to receive every opponent's best performance; other teams in the Legion field are just itching for the opportunity to beat one of the state's best teams.

According to Goffstown resident Dave Fradette, the players enjoy having that target on their backs.

"It's been us and ('04 state champion) Sweeney (Post)," said Fradette, whose team was still in contention for the title through Tuesday, Aug. 2. "Teams know they've got to beat us to (win the title). We like the challenge. I wouldn't say we take it for granted anymore. Everyone brings their best game against us."

Therefore, head coach Tom French and his players approached the '05 tournament with the same mindset employed during the regular season.

"I don't really have to tell these guys too much," French said. "They've been here before."

Championship campaigns are quite familiar to many of the team's members.

In 1998, Jamie Morin, Jeff Perkins and Fradette were on the first Goffstown 11- and 12-year-old Little League baseball all-star team that advanced to the New England Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn.

The Jutras duo of Tom French, son of the head coach, and Steve Desjarlais were instrumental in helping Goffstown's 10-year-old team win a title that same year.

French and Desjarlais competed on the town's Jimmy Fund all-star team that won the District I crown.

This year, the trio of Morin, Perkins and Fradette will try to claim one last title in their final season of Legion competition.

"A good core of us have been playing together since Little League," Fradette said. "It's probably our last year together. It's special in that sense. We'll feel incomplete if we don't win it all."