The final week of the season feels like when you go Christmas shopping on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. You're just trying to get everything in before it's too late and hope no one gets left out.

 We covered ten games this week, many of which were rescheduled due to the weather.

 Today, in the last Thoughts column of our sixteenth school year of covering the entire state of New Hampshire, we identify the teams we feel are the true title contenders, the final four contenders, and pick a dark horse team or two from a crowded field in all four divisions.

 Our column today is brought to you by our great friends at The Links at Outlook over the New Hampshire border in Berwick, Maine—a terrific spot for golf, weddings, and your next event.

Division I

Division I Standings and Statistical Leaders

Teams that we think can win the title: Pinkerton, Goffstown, Londonderry, Trinity and Exeter.

Despite a potential loss in their regular season finale today against Windham, Pinkerton should probably have a category of their own for this exercise as they are clearly the favorite to win it all again this year.  The Astros have scored the most runs in the division with 172 in 18 games and their pitching has allowed only 35 runs, that's 20 less runs than the next stingiest team.  If they don't win it all it will be a monumental shocker.   Goffstown earned the number 2 seed with a tremendous 16 and 2 season using a high powered offense and quality pitching depth to outscore the competition 170 to 66.  It's the best regular season record for the Grizzlies since joining D1 in 2019.  The Grizzlies won the D2 Championship back in 2014 under coach Adam Lawrence who's team is looking to make history with the school's first D1 Championship since the 2015 Grizzlies football team won it all.  The Londonderry Lancers are one of the hottest teams in New Hampshire having won 10 of 11 down the stretch to finish 16 and 3.  The only loss during that streak came against unbeaten Pinkerton by a score of 4 to 2.  Londonderry has done it with really good pitching led by righty Jaylen Stott and lefty Colin Philcrantz who have combined to go 11 and 1 between them.  Some people might be counting out 14 and 5 Exeter  thanks to a  late season swoon where the Blue Hawks dropped 4 games in a row after starting the season 13 and 1.  We look at that rough patch as something this veteran team can use for motivation to prove they are good enough to get back to the Championship Game.  If they do get back they will likely have to beat either Trinity of Londonderry on the road in the quarterfinals.  Speaking of the Pioneers, they haven't lost since dropping back to back games to Exeter and Windham in the first week of May.  The 11 straight wins to close the season gives Trinity a 16 and 3 record tied with Londonderry for the 3rd/4th seed in D1.  Trinity did not play Londonderry head to head so we'll have to wait on the tiebreakers to see which team gets the number 3 seed.         

Lower seeded teams capable of a final four run: Bishop Guertin & Bedford

The 1-2 pitching punch of AJ Holmes and Ben Geiger gives Bishop Guertin as good a chance as any of the teams we expect to be seeded in the 8th spot or lower to win a couple tournament games and get into the semifinals.  The Cardinals finished the season at 11 and 9 after losing to Alvirne on Thursday night.  Bedford is another team that could make a little noise if their pitching holds up and they can score enough runs for top pitchers Zack Papik, Jack Hinton and Jimmy Gilbert.      

The dark horse teams:  Concord & Windham

With 2 very good arms, the Concord Crimson Tide are a scary matchup for whoever they end up playing in the first round and potentially the quarters.  Concord is 8 and 11 right now with a game left against an always tough Portsmouth team today.  Alex Turant will likely get the start for coach Scott Owen's team in the prelims.  Turant throws as hard as anyone in D1 and his 58 strikeouts and only 6 earned runs allowed in 37.2 innings this year should scare any manager who might face Concord.  Then the Tide can throw Kaelen Williams at you who is 3 and 0 with 35 Ks in 30 innings, while only giving up 2 earned runs.  Windham, still has to play Pinkerton today, but with a record of 7 and 10 they will likely grab one of the last spots in the 15 team field.  With Josh Martino who currently leads the division in strikeouts with 65 in 37.1 innings, the Jaguars are certainly concerning for a prelim opponent.        

Division II

Division II Standings and Statistical Leaders

Teams that we think can win the title: Souhegan, Bow, John Stark, Kingswood & Hollis-Brookline.

I've been saying it for a few weeks now, the Souhegan Sabers are the favorites to win D2 this year.  They have a deep pitching staff to compliment one of the better offenses in the league.  With one game left today against Pelham, the Sabers will look to go 16 and 1 in the regular season.  The only loss was a 4-3 game to Dover, a Top 10 team in Division 1.  I've also been saying we could see a Championship Game rematch between Souhegan and Bow who improved to 13 and 2 with a big 3-1 win over Kingswood in Bow on Thursday in a game we covered on video.  Bow's only 2 losses were 3 to 1 setbacks against St. Thomas and Hollis-Brookline during the 1st 2 weeks of the season.   The John Stark Generals are 15 and 2 with the only losses coming to Bow and St. Thomas.  Chase Philibotte gives them one of the true aces in the division.  Do they have enough offense and pitching behind him to win multiple playoff games is the question.  Kingswood and Hollis-Brookline might just be the most complete teams outside Souhegan with multiple quality arms and deep batting lineups. 

Lower seeded teams capable of a final four run: Hanover & Oyster River  

The Oyster River Bobcats started off 8 and 1, but lost 5 of their last 8 to finish 11 and 6.  But we think this team is better than their record indicates and has the talent and experience to make a run to the Final Four after doing it last year as a double digit seed.  Hanover is another team that seems unbeatable at times, but somehow they lost 5 games on the season, 4 of them to teams ranked above them.  Big one today against Hollis-Brookline which will give the Bears a chance to beat someone in front of them in the standings.   

The dark horse teams:  St. Thomas & Pelham

 The 8 and 11 St. Thomas Saints still have a game left against winless Sanborn on Saturday...and they got a preview of what could-be come playoff time when Graham Willerer struck out 16 Pelham batters in a 1-hit, 3-0 shutout of the Pythons on Wednesday.  With Willerer ready to start a prelim game against a higher seeded team coach Carson Cross has to like his chances for an upset.    We also like Pelham as a potential spoiler team because of their two top pitchers Kevin Hardy and Jake Davidson, plus an offense that can score some runs.  The Pythons are 7 and 9 and will play Souhegan today to close the regular season.

Division III

Division III Standings and Statistical Leaders

Teams that we think can win the title: Belmont, Bishop Brady, Conant, Monadnock, White Mountains.

The Belmont Red Raiders took back control of the division and the number one seed, plus the bye that comes with it in D3 with back to back wins over White Mountains...and it wasn't really close.  Belmont's offense put up a whopping 188 runs in 16 games and the pitching gave up only 36.  That's a 152 run differential.  If they don't win the title this year it won't be quite like Pinkerton not winning in D1, but it will be close.  Conant and Bishop Brady also look to be true Championship contenders.  Conant has beaten Monadnock twice and also beat Brady just this week.  The Giants have very good wins against Belmont and Monadnock, plus 2 over Campbell.  I'm keeping White Mountains in this discussion despite the 2 blowouts against Belmont because they have perhaps the best 1-2 punch in D3 with Noah Covell and Deagan Stover.  You can't count out defending Champs Monadnock either with a pair of top notch pitchers in Kaden Smith and Chris Rouleau to go with an offense that can put up runs in bunches. 

Lower seeded teams capable of a final four run: Campbell & Stevens

Calling teams that will be ranked in the top 7 "lower seeded" teams is a bit of a stretch, but the 10 and 5 Campbell Cougars are dangerous because of the star power they bring in Braydon White, Mike Grace and Luke Delia.  And 11 and 5 Stevens just picked up a big win over Fall Mountain to move ahead of the Wildcats in the standings.  The Cardinals have been led by Logan Minckler, Matt Goss and Maddox Foster. 

The dark horse team:  Gilford

The Gilford Golden Eagles are the lower seeded team you do not want to see on your side of the bracket.  With a tough game today against Campbell to finish the regular season, Gilford will be either 9 and 7 or 8 and 8 and somewhere around a 10 seed.  Starting pitchers Ryan Folan and Drew Smith give Gilford a really good chance to beat anyone they face regardless of seeding.

Division IV

Division IV Standings and Statistical Leaders

 Teams that we think can win the title: Epping, Mascenic Regional, Gorham, Newmarket, and Woodsville.

 The fact that there are five teams capable of being the last team standing is what makes this division so much fun.

 It'd be easy to look at the depth of Epping's lineup and their ability to throw three high-level pitchers at you and call it a foregone conclusion that they'd be in the mix, but that wasn't the case back in April. Josh Martin was stepping into the head coaching role after serving as an assistant last year, and a lot of young players were stepping into more significant roles. The Blue Devils have scored the second-most runs in the division (168) while allowing the second-fewest (28) against a tough schedule. Logan Abbott (22 hits and 20 RBIs), Grayson Davis ( two home runs and 20 RBIs), Benny Follensbee (.500 with 19 RBIs), Seth Lecuyer (.396 and 18 RBIs), and Nolan Schmal (.447 with 18 RBIs) are wearing pitchers out. At the same time, Nate Gallant has been as good as any pitcher in the division and has Lecuyer and Abbott able to start a playoff game behind him. The Blue Devils are going to be a tough out....The Mascenic Vikings have been one of the biggest surprise teams in the division under first-year head coach Jason Bartleson and have gotten all-state seasons from TJ Edgar (.425 and 18 RBIs), Lucas Leroux (.328, one home run, and 12 RBIs) and Parker Ketola (5-0 with 44 strikeouts). Can they get the pitching in back-to-back games to make a final four/championship run?.......... Newmarket is a team you don't bet against once we get to June, and Stan Jurkoic's relatively young group will enter the tournament battle-tested, having faced Epping (twice), Mascenic (twice), and Portsmouth Christian (twice). We know they can hit; Jackie Prompradit, Nate Fluet, Matt Napolento, and Anthony Jurkoic have combined for over sixty RBIs. John Schlieder (4-1 with 41 K's) gives the Mules a legit ace at the top of the rotation. The question is, is the rotation strong enough behind him to win four games in ten days?.......... Woodsville is a good enough team to be the last one standing, but losses to Colebrook and Littleton in their final three games are going to make their road far more difficult than it was at this time last week. In the loss to Littleton, their top two pitchers, Landon Kingsbury (5-1 with 49 K's) and Jacob Putnam (5-1 with 43 K's), went up against the Crusaders and lost. So this wasn't an instance of getting caught resting your top pitchers; Littleton beat them for their biggest win of the season. The Engineers may drop as low as the 8-seed, which would mean a trip to Epping in the quarterfinals.........Gorham, the champs, earned an epic 12-inning 6-5 win over Colebrook behind four scoreless innings of relief from Isaac Langlois. You'll hear a lot of coaches tell you the Huskies are the favorites, and I would agree; they've proven it on the big stage, but they were swept by Woodsville, beaten by Colebrook (in their first meeting), and their best wins of the season are Littleton and Colebrook, two teams fighting for a top eight seed.

 Teams capable of a final four run: Colebrook and Littleton.

  Colebrook owns wins over Gorham and Woodsville and nearly knocked off the champs twice before losing in 12 innings. Jack Kyller (.436 with 15 RBIs), Jackson Weir (.326 with 15 RBIs), and Dylan Dauphinais (.350 with 17 RBIs) have all had big seasons at the plate, but it's the pitching that makes them a contender. Garrett Fournier has come on strong in the second half of the season, while Vinny Santamaria and Brody Dauphinais give Tim Purrington enough pitching depth to be a very difficult out......I wouldn't have included Littleton two days ago. Still, the win over Woodsville, behind a terrific pitching performance by Aury Perez (5 1/3 innings allowing only one earned run), should give this team a ton of confidence.

 The dark horse teams: Nute, Lin Wood, Concord Christian, Groveton, and Profile.

 Nute has the pitching depth with Brody Leeman (4-1 with 43 K's), Cooper Janis (2-1 with 32 K's), and Beckett Viveiros (3-1 with 36 K's) to win a couple of playoff games. Will their bats give them enough support against a top team's best pitcher?.......The Lin Wood Lumberjacks put up runs, ranking fifth in runs scored with 142 going into Thursday afternoon. Can they give the pitching the support to back it up? Liam Manning has put together an all-state season at the plate and on the hill ( 7-2 record, .476 with a home run and 19 RBIs), while Colt Sothard has batted .475 with 10 RBIs. But does Mike Pogue's team have the pitching depth to win a pair of playoff games?............ Groveton can hit as well; Dylan Simino leads all of Division IV with 27 hits while Konner Shannon, Ashton Kenison, Brocton Meunier, Brody Platt, and Marcus Pellitier have combined for seventy-three runs batted in....but can they overcome their struggles on the mound?............ Concord Christian is on the opposite end of that spectrum. TJ Charbono (5-1 with a division-leading 89 K's) can carry them to a playoff win, but can they get enough hitting to win two games? Andrew Doyle (.389 with 12 RBIs) is the only hitter battling above .300 in the lineup....Profile is another long shot because of their pitching, but Tanner Schmarr was dominant in a Wednesday win over Groveton, allowing no earned runs and striking out fourteen in a 4-0 win. Coen Mullins, Schmarr, and Jackson Clough have combined for forty-seven runs batted in. Will the pitching give them a chance to pull an upset over a higher seed?