Nashua-Plainfield’s knack for getting out of jams seemed to be expiring.

The Huskies entered the top of the 7th at Stan Burkle Field Tuesday evening with a 4-0 lead. Reliever Nic Brase returned to the mound after extinguishing a Falcon threat in the 6th, preserving starter Eli Kalainoff’s shutout.

After getting the lead-off batter to fly out to left, everything went awry. A single, an infield error, a pitch in the dirt bouncing off the catcher’s mask and a base on balls put A-P in position to tie the game.

With two outs, the Falcons tried to steal home. They had runners at first and third and just needed a distraction. As Brase looked in to deliver his next pitch, A-P’s runner at first jumped out to an exaggerated lead. Brase didn’t exactly take the bait.

“We’ll, I just heard ‘Big lead!’ and I was going to send him back to the base,” Brase said. “I stepped off and he was half way across, so I just went after him.”

He knew the Falcons were trying to set him up. It was a type of squeeze play the Huskies have successfully used earlier this season. A throw to first or second would give the runner at third the pass to home. So instead, Brase chased the Falcon back toward first, tossing the ball to first baseman Landon Pratt just in time to make a tag and end the game.

N-P’s 4-3 non-conference victory puts the Huskies at 13-4 overall. A-P fell to 7-10.

Bo Harrington hit a 2-run homerun in the third inning to give N-P the lead, which the Huskies expanded in the sixth. Wyatt Bouillon drove in a run with a single and Brase, as a pinch hitter, pushed across 1 more by earning a base on balls.

Kalainoff struck out eight batters in 5.2 innings of work.

UP NEXT

On Wednesday, the Huskies travel to Saint Ansgar (18-5) for a 7:30 p.m. game. The Huskies defeated the Saints 7-0 on May 31 in Nashua.

Saint Ansgar was mentioned this week in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings. Here is the list: