By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

If Andy LaRoche had known Manchester Central's 2005 Class L campaign would be a concoction of extreme highs and lows, the Little Green head baseball coach might've requested his spot on the pine come equipped with a seat belt.

It's been a season of severe ups and downs for the Queen City club. And perhaps no sample of contests proves that point better than the locals. first seven games on the schedule.

Central started strong, jumping out to 3-0 record. Four games later, however, Gang Green owned a 3-4 mark.

During its four-game skid, Central committed 15 fielding errors, complete with dropped balls and off-target tosses, LaRoche said.

Since those four frustrating setbacks, the season has been a succession of small winning and losing streaks.

Playing consistently, quite simply, has been a season-long challenge for LaRoche's club.

"We're playing to the ability of our opponents, basically," LaRoche said prior to a 4-1 loss to Manchester West on Monday, May 16. "When we face a tough team, we're tough. But then if we're facing a team we know that we should beat, we struggle."

For a short time, it appeared the Little Green machine turned the corner as it won back-toback road games at Dover and Alvirne, improving to 5-4.

The win against Dover was Central's third contest where it plated 10 runs. But following their 3-1 triumph against Alvirne, LaRoche's boys once again dropped from peak to valley.

Facing a winless Trinity of Manchester team, Central suffered a demoralizing 4-3 setback, where it was shutout through six frames.

"We couldn't muster anything together until the seventh inning - and that was on some of their mistakes," LaRoche said.

According to the head coach, the loss to Trinity, more than any other defeat, served the purpose of teaching two huge lessons to the Little Green.

First, overlooking any opponent in Class L can render undesireable results, particularly when the opponent is a city rival.

Second, Class L baseball's '05 race is up for grabs. After Nashua South and Manchester Memorial, the standings are bunched.

Every win and every loss can have a major impact on advancing to the postseason tournament.

Entering the game against Trinity, Central was in 13th place, LaRoche said. Since so many schools had similar . if not identical - records, a victory could've catapulted the club into the No. 6 slot, he added.

"One thing we've talked about is, 'Win the week'. You play three games during the week, win two out of three. If you do that, you'll remain high in the standings," the head coach said. "But some weeks, we dropped some games we shouldn't have dropped because of errors. And then some other times we'll take advantage of someone else's errors. It's been a roller coaster all year long and by looking at the standings, it's not only us."

Central's '05 roster includes seniors Jake Dicroce, Tim Grenier, Doug Leclerc and Willy Vasquez; juniors Nate Abbe, Matt Boyd, Dan Conley, Nick Doucet, Scott Gallagher, Jameson Kokolis, John Lugo, Tyler Magarian, Matt Moreau and J.J. St. Pierre; sophomores Collin Bellaud, John Blevins, Brendon McCarthy, and Mike Moody; and freshman Miles Davis.

Along with LaRoche, Central is coached by assistants Mike Cotter and Mike Lolacata.

"It's a motivational thing," LaRoche said. "When these guys get up and they start playing games (during pre-game warm ups), they're a lot looser. When they're just sitting back, watching someone taking infield, it's just like they freeze up (come game time)."