CONCORD — The Hanover High baseball team’s playoff run came to a screeching halt on Wednesday with a 9-0 loss to John Stark in an NHIAA Division II semifinal at Warren H. Doane Field.

The Generals have been a thorn in the Bears’ side all season, having also defeated Hanover twice in the regular season.

“They didn’t really make any mistakes,” Hanover head coach John Bagnulo said. “That’s usually what it comes down to. If you’ve got a team where the guys throw strikes, change speeds, and the defense doesn’t make mistakes, you’re going to be in every game. I think they do that.”

For the first three innings, the game remained scoreless thanks to solid pitching by Hanover junior starter Allie Muirhead and John Stark junior starter Aidan Williams, along with senior Hayden Pond, who came on in relief for the Generals.

Although runs were hard to come by early, both teams had opportunities. John Stark threatened in the bottom of the first after senior Joey Dykstra was hit by a pitch. Following a flyout, junior Aiden Harris grounded to third base. Dykstra, attempting to steal second, advanced to third on the throw to first that retired Harris. Muirhead then struck out the next batter to escape the jam.

The Bears carried that momentum into the top of the second. Muirhead grounded out to start the inning, but the next two batters walked, putting runners on first and second with one out. Senior Finn Ware followed with a single to right field, but baserunning mistakes proved costly. The runner at second hesitated, and the Generals threw out runners heading for both third and second to end the inning.

More baserunning issues plagued Hanover in the third. Junior Hayden Avard walked to lead off, and senior Will Hopkins followed with a grounder to shortstop. Avard was forced out at second, but an errant throw to first gave Hopkins a chance to advance — only for him to be thrown out at second in an unorthodox double play.

Hanover had a defensive highlight in the bottom of the third when senior left fielder Sean Nam made a sliding catch to strand a runner on second.

But the Bears couldn’t hold off the Generals much longer. In the bottom of the fourth, John Stark broke through with a two-run single with the bases loaded. In the fifth, with two outs and the bases again loaded, Muirhead induced a grounder back to himself, but his throw to first was off-target, allowing three more runs to score and extending the Generals’ lead to 5-0.

Hanover couldn’t respond. After a scoreless top of the sixth, the Generals piled on four more runs in the bottom of the inning, aided by shaky Bears fielding.

In the top of the seventh, Dykstra came in to pitch and shut the door on Hanover’s season.

“We made mental mistakes,” Bagnulo said. “The key to being a good team is, if you do make a mistake, to not let it compound into multiple ones. Those ones on the bases — those potentially cost us. We gave them three extra outs, four extra outs.”

Despite the lopsided result, Bagnulo said he was proud of how his team grew over the season.

“We had a couple of bad losses early in the season, and after that they really regrouped,” he said. “I think the guys really grew a lot. I think we improved.”

The Bears’ future looks bright, with eight juniors on the roster expected to return next season.

“We’re going to be a really good team next year,” Bagnulo said.

Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at mcoughlin@vnews.com.