Exeter 12, Pinkerton 1
- Updated: June 12, 2025
NASHUA – After the final pitch was thrown Wednesday night, a man sitting a couple rows in front of the Holman Stadium press box turned to a small crowd next to him and said, “Exeter is really swinging the bats in the playoffs.”
He wasn’t wrong. The Blue Hawks have rediscovered their offense at the right time.
After being held to nine runs during a four-game losing streak late in the regular season, Exeter has scored 39 runs in its three Division I tournament games. That includes a 12-1 victory over previously unbeaten Pinkerton in Wednesday’s semifinals.
“We swung the bats like we’ve never swung before,” Exeter outfielder Mike Caron said following Wednesday’s win. “We’ve been swinging crazy all playoffs. Down the stretch we slumped a little bit and I think we took that personal. We just had a little chip on our shoulder – something to prove.”
Fifth-seeded Exeter (17-5) collected 10 hits and took advantage of 11 walks against four Pinkerton pitchers, including Gatorade Player of the Year Leo Boucher and Division I Player of the Year Mike Cioffi.
Exeter scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second and eight in the fifth. The game ended after five innings because of the mercy rule. The top-seeded Astros (20-1) surrendered more than four runs in a game once during the regular season.
“Just a great all-around effort,” Exeter coach Bruce Joyce said. “We just needed to put some pressure on them and we did. It was a good start and we just rolled from there.
“Even in the games we lost down the stretch there we were still having good at-bats and making loud outs. We just reset.”
The Blue Hawks will face 10th-seeded Winnacunnet (13-10) in Saturday’s championship game at Delta Dental Stadium. Winnacunnet advanced by beating 11th-seeded Salem 6-5 in Wednesday’s first semifinal.
Pinkerton, which beat Exeter 3-1 during the regular season, was attempting to become the first Division I team to go undefeated since the 2017 Exeter team finished 21-0. The Astros beat the Blue Hawks 9-0 in last year’s championship game.
“Exeter played a great game,” Pinkerton coach Steve Campo said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. We’ve been fortunate the last two years because everything has bounced our way. It’s a tough one to swallow, but it’s baseball. It happens.”
The Blue Hawks received two hits from John Bakker, two from Cam Piwnicki and two from Jack Dever. Piwnicki, who was Exeter’s starting pitcher in last year’s championship game, held Pinkerton to six hits in five innings Wednesday. He struck out six.
“Right now this is probably the best day of my life until Saturday,” Piwnicki said. “Felt great to get my get-back after literally waiting for more than a year for this moment to come up again. We have some great camaraderie going and I’m really looking forward to playing one more game with these guys.”
The Blue Hawks wore “JJ” decals on their helmets in honor of Joyce’s father, John Joyce, who passed away earlier this week.
Exeter beat Winnacunnet 10-0 during the regular season, but the Warriors have won nine of their last 11 games.
“Seacoast championship,” Joyce said. “You can’t ask for better than that where we live.”
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