By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

Success in baseball, as in business, almost always stems from solid leadership. This spring, Memorial High School has a superb cast of character guys, according to head coach Donald Menswar. And his boys are all business.

GREETINGS - Memorial's Eddie Lacourse (No. 12) is the first to congratulate teammate Bryan Poltak, who scored the Crusaders' first run on an Exeter wild pitch. The locals went on to win, 5-2, at Gill Stadium on May 2. (Marc Thaler Photo)

"We have tremendous leadership by our seniors," said Menswar. "They've just really taken over. Pretty much, they've made the ball club so much closer and so much tighter where everybody's having a good time."

The good times continued at Gill Stadium on Monday, May 2, where the Crusaders won their sixth contest in eight games against a tough Exeter squad, 5-2.

Mike Pariseau gave his group 6 2/3 innings from the hill in his first appearance back on the mound since a shoulder injury sidelined him nearly two weeks earlier. The junior fanned three batters, scattered four hits and allowed one earned run on a wet afternoon. Senior Tyler Howard recorded the final out.

"We're just solid everywhere," said Pariseau, who was more interested in praising his teammates than discussing his own performance. "Every single position, we have players who are (great) at what they do. And the people on our bench could be other teams' starters."

The Crusaders. collective positive attitude, Pariseau said, is a welcome weapon to the team's arsenal.

A year ago, Memorial had a host of talent. But it didn't translate into wins, which significantly altered every player's mood.

"We had a good team last year and we came in one of the last places because I think we were too cocky," Pariseau said. "This year we know we have to work and we have to battle. We have a really good team and we know it."

"We had a real struggle last year where we had a real dynamite ball club," added Menswar. "But we just never clicked."

Against the Blue Hawks, who also entered Monday's contest with a 5-2 record, Memorial fell behind in the third inning, 2-0. But the light rain and two run deficit did little to dampen Memorial's spirits.

The Crusaders quickly countered, plating a pair of runs in the home third. After lacing a one-out single to right field, junior Bryan Poltak put his team on the board when he scored on a wild pitch. Howard, who followed Poltak's single with a walk, also came around to touch home on Pariseau's fielder's choice.

In the bottom of the fifth, Memorial took control of the game. The locals scored twice without a hit, further proving they're currently playing with great karma.

The Crusaders took advantage of four walks and a hit batsman to score Howard and senior Bryn Doyle for a 4-2 lead.

One inning later, junior Alex Quintal scored from second base

See Memorial, Page B-2)