PORTSMOUTH — The Patriots’ baseball season came to an end on a damp field at Portsmouth High School Monday, but head coach Ryan Long said he has high hopes for this young team next year.

The PHS varsity team won its Division I play-in game against Coventry that began on Tuesday, May 30, by a score of 11-8. (That game had to be completed the next day after being called for darkness in the fifth inning.) The Patriots, however, were shut out by Cumberland on the road Saturday, 10-0. 

That set up a do-or-die game against Central at home on Monday, which the Knights won, 7-2. Central took the lead on an RBI double by Christian Cuevas in the second inning and never looked back. The Knights increased their lead in the fifth inning, on a bases-loaded triple by Maikel Soriano that made it 5-1.

Justin Odsen got the win for Central, allowing two runs on 10 hits over seven innings of work. He struck out eight and walked one.

John Mass took the loss for Portsmouth. He lasted five innings, allowing seven hits and six runs while striking out six.

Mass and Nick Spaner each had multiple hits for Portsmouth, with the former going 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Patriots.

Long said despite the loss, his team has a bright future ahead of it,

“As a young team that’s still developing, I felt we had a great year,” he said. “A lot of this was kind of a project for next season, knowing that we lose only one senior. But, we also felt we could compete this year.”

Long said he didn’t feel the team played its best baseball over the last two games. “When we lose games we kind of implode on ourselves, and when we win everything’s great. I think the talent is there, the experience not quite there. We’re hopeful coming into next year, with eight starters returning,” he said.

He said his four captains — Mass, Spaner, Oliver Rey and the only senior, Caleb Banks, played a huge role in developing the less-experienced players.

“You try to remember this feeling — what it means to win these types of games — and today we just didn’t execute it at the plate,” he said.