By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

Goffstown Legion head baseball coach Pete Kiro never lets an opportunity pass to talk in-game strategy with his young roster of players. With his team in the field during the home half of the first inning against Nashua.s Coffey Post, Kiro takes the time to explain infield defense to a pair of future stars, Austin Schilling (left) and Dalton Clark. (Marc Thaler Photo)

GOFFSTOWN . When a team has less than a handful of wins at the midway point of its baseball season, it.s tough to imagine a head coach saying the campaign already exceeded expectation.

But when Pete Kiro thinks back to last winter, it.s clear why he considers the 2005 campaign an overwhelming success.

�g(Winning) records are nice, they.re fun to talk about,�h said Kiro, the skipper of the firstyear Goffstown Legion baseball team. �gBut there.s nothing more rewarding than watching young guys play within themselves and begin to see they can produce.�h

More than seven months ago, Kiro learned GL would return to the state.s legion baseball scene after a two-decade absence.

Kiro also knew his roster would largely consist of players with little to no experience behind the wheel of an automobile, let alone experience playing at the legion level.

�gIt can be kind of tough. We.re all the same age and it.s not like we have a lot of older kids to look up to,�h said co-captain Craig McGee, 16. �gBut we just have to go out there and be confident, not be timid.�h

Competing in a summer league that welcomes college-age athletes, GL has just a few 17- year-olds serving as the squad.s oldest contributors. Still, Kiro.s club has been extremely competitive . more than its sub-.500 record indicates.

To the coach.s surprise, Goffstown .s ability to hang with the top teams is directly related to its success swinging the stick . the one area Kiro predicted to be GL.s biggest obstacle to overcome.

�gWhen you face college pitchers, players that are three to four years older than some of these guys, it can be tough,�h Kiro said. �gI don.t know if it.s that I know what to do as a hitting coach or that they just want to work so hard. I.m gonna go with the latter.�h

According to Kiro, the entire GL lineup has the knack for making contact. Through the first third of the summer season, the locals were hitting .355 as a team.

Entering the season.s second half, the team batting average dipped a bit, but Kiro attributed the drop-off to fatigue; GL is currently playing almost every night during a two-week span.

With a solid sampling of games to review, Kiro said GL.s Achilles. heel has been the one area he pegged as a strength in the preseason.

�gRealistically, we could have six wins with a bit of luck,�h Kiro said. �gWe.ve hurt ourselves by not making the basic (defensive) plays, which is going to happen with a young team.�h

Proving Kiro.s point are a handful of tough Goffstown setbacks where fielding was its downfall.

Against Derry, the locals lost, 5-4, but allowed three unearned runs. Playing Londonderry to a scoreless tie through eight frames, GL lost, 5-0. And in two games with Lebanon, GL was on the short end of 8-6 and 4-1 final scores.

The difficult defeats have been humbling for players who.ve grown accustomed to toting targets on their backs, according to Kiro.

�gGoffstown players walk around with a little swagger because they know what it.s like to be in state title games, win state titles (at younger levels),�h the head coach said. �gIt.s easy to be a winner. It.s tough to accept defeat. These guys handle defeat with class.�h

�gYeah, we expected to win, but we.re doing the best we can right now,�h said co-captain Evan Turcotte, 17. �gEven if other teams throw harder than us and hit the ball farther, we.re just excited to get out there. Once we get the experience, we.ll be as good as any team out there.�h

An accomplished athlete himself, Kiro said the .05 season is teaching him the same lessons it.s teaching his players. First, patience is paramount. Second, quitting on each other is the only thing that guarantees GL won.t achieve greatness.

�gIf I told all these guys they could run through a brick wall, I really believe they could do it,�h Kiro said. �gThey.re like sponges. They can.t soak up enough.�h

Prior to leading Goffstown, Kiro was an assistant coach with perennial power Jutras Post No. 43 of Manchester. Having coached local stars Dave Fradette, Jamie Morin and Tom Pavesi during his Jutras days, Kiro said he currently has players who could possibly represent the next crop of comparable talent.

Led by Kiro, Goffstown Legion.s .05 roster includes assistant coaches Guy Clark, Dave McGee and Frank Szumiez. Along with co-captains McGee and Turcotte, players include Sean Beaudoin, Jonathan Berube, Ben Bradley, Tom Burke, Stephen Case, Dalton Clark, Michael Donahoe, Kory Kiro, Anthony Malik, Jason Manugian, Austin Schilling, Alex Sobolov, Eric Szumiez, Joe Torre and Mike Viviers.

�gWith those guys, you take their talents for granted a little bit; they play at such a level few players see,�h Kiro said of the Jutras trio. �gBut with these young guys, I see flashes.

�gI see glimpses of kids who hit like Fradette, make pitches like Morin and hustle like Pavesi,�h he added. �gI see these little sparks coming.�h