Last year’s semifinal was a nightmare. This year’s was a dream.

The John Stark pitching staff, led by senior Hayden Pond, combined for a shutout, and Pond’s two-run single in the bottom of the fourth provided the game-winning runs as the No. 2 Generals (17-2) punched their tickets to Saturday’s Division II championship game with a 9-0 victory over No. 6 Hanover (13-6) on Wednesday at Memorial Field.

“I had my dream plan set up and we pretty much made it (happen),” John Stark head coach Dennis Pelletier said.

That plan involved not needing to use senior Chase Philibotte, the Division II Player of the Year, on the mound in order to preserve fresh arms for Saturday’s championship.

The Generals’ starting pitcher, junior Aidan Williams, was pulled after walking a couple of batters, but still opened the game by tossing two scoreless and hitless innings. Pond earned the win by pitching four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out three. Senior Joey Dykstra earned the save and didn’t allow a hit or walk in his one inning on the hill.

“Hayden really settled and pitched really well,” Pelletier said. “The plan was, if it stayed really close, Chase was going to pitch at the end. But then we (scored more runs), so I moved on from using him. We’re in a great position. All four of our pitchers are available and we have the Player of the Year pitching for us. It couldn’t have worked out any better for us.”

Pelletier also had a plan for last year’s semifinal, but things turned out very different. Playing on Memorial Field as the top seed last season, John Stark was upset by No. 4 Bow, 10-2. The Generals’ season ended prematurely, while the Falcons went on to win the D-II championship.

“That was a tough loss last year. It ate at a lot of these guys,” Pelletier said. “Ten of those guys are back from last year and this is what they wanted so bad. I am so thrilled for them.”

What started out as a very competitive game eventually turned into a blowout.

Hanover starting pitcher Allie Muirhead struck out five Stark betters through the first three innings and neither team had a hit until Dykstra singled in the bottom of the third inning.

Pond (1-for-2, run, two RBI) finally put runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth when his two-out single to center field brought home junior Aiden Harris and senior Ryder Brown (two walks, two runs) for a 2-0 lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, junior Parker LaClair (1-for-3, two RBI) had an RBI single that scored freshman Des Bogle and overthrow to first base allowed Williams and Brown to score to make it 5-0.

Muirhead was chased from the game after 4.2 innings (five runs, five hits, six walks allowed, six strikeouts) and the Bears committed three errors in the sixth inning.

Philibotte doubled to center to score Pond and Bogle to make it 7-0 and back-to-back infield errors led to runs by senior Jayden Bishop and Philibotte to cap the 9-0 scoreline.

Hanover recorded both of its two hits in the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back singles from Hayden Avard (1-for-2, walk) and Will Hopkins (1-for-2) to open the frame, but Dykstra turned the Generals’ third double play of the game to quickly dash any hopes of a Bears comeback.

John Stark turned some unconventional double players earlier in the game. Junior right fielder Travis Lisofsky fielded a hit to shallow left center and got the force out at second base, and shortstop Philibotte fired a throw to Dykstra at third who tagged out the advancing runner.

Harris, playing catcher, had a huge heads up play in the third inning. Hopkins ground into a fielder’s choice and Philibotte got the force out at second base (Avard, who reached on a walk), but overthrew the throw to first base. Harris hustled from home plate to back up Brown at first and retrieved the errant throw. He had just enough time to fire off a throw to junior Ben LaBrecque at second base, who tagged out Hopkins as he was trying to go for two. 

“Defense was a big thought in my preparation today for these guys,” Pelletier said. “We knew we had a good defense and we wanted to put pressure on their defense. They have good pitching, but we thought that if we put the ball in play and did some things with our speed and our ability to run the bases, we could cause some havoc and I think we did that.”

Pelletier also highlighted the contributions of the bottom half of Stark’s batting order and smart decision making at the plate as positive signs from Wednesday’s semifinal. Those will also be key factors when the Generals play No. 1 Souhegan (19-1) in Saturday’s championship. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.

“We need to have good at bats,” Pelletier said. “Our team batting average might not be off the charts, but our team on-base percentage is pretty high. We rarely swing at bad pitches. We do a good job of getting on base and then making things happen. Our hitters at the top of the order have been hitting the ball well and scoring a lot of runs, but we had some production from the bottom of the lineup, which we’ve been dying for. We need to not just rely on Chase being the best player or the best pitcher in the league.”

Thanks to John Stark’s decisive semifinal performance, Philibotte will be well rested.

“There’s no other player in this state that is more energetic and has more competitiveness in him than Chase Philibotte,” Pelletier said.

Game times of Saturday’s four NHIAA divisional baseball championships at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester have not yet been released.