NORWICH — The little things. They mean so very much.

John Stark won a battle of tiny opportunities on Friday, eliminating Hanover from the NHIAA Division II baseball tournament’s preliminary round with a 4-3 win at Dresden Athletic Field. Staked to a one-run lead keyed by a fifth-inning Hanover error, senior hurler Austin Hazzard retired the last nine batters he faced in order to hand the hosts their one and only loss of this unusual spring.

Hanover coach John Grainger admitted the encounter with the Generals (11-3) came at least one round, if not two, earlier than it should have, given the NHIAA’s pandemic-fueled decision to create geographic pods for open tournaments in all sports. Hazzard was the toughest pitcher Grainger’s squad saw all year, and the numbers bore that out.

“The bottom line: That kid threw well; he didn’t make mistakes,” Grainger said of Hazzard, a first-team all-stater who will play baseball at New England College next year. “I brought guys back who threw with some velocity, but not that hard. When they’re meaningless in situations in practice, with no pressure, it’s very different.”

Hanover sophomore Sam Sacerdote (six-hitter, six Ks, no walks) pitched well enough to win; all four runs against him were unearned due to a pair of infield errors. Hazzard ultimately prevailed on four hits, fanning 10 against a walk and a hit batter and allowing just one Hanover base hit over the final six frames.

“I always have faith in my team,” Hazzard said. “My curveball was on point today; I threw that mostly. They couldn’t catch onto it. I just painted the corners, had my spots and had my defense back me up.”

Stark got the first-frame jump, Brady Philibotte’s RBI single plating Alex Moore following a Hanover miscue. The hosts answered right back with a pair of runs as four of Grainger’s first five batters reached first base and stole second. Leadoff hitter Ben Williams — in his final Hanover game before a planned transfer to Connecticut’s Avon Old Farms — legged out an infield hit and eventually scored on a wild pitch, with Mason Gantrish’s soon-after RBI single staking Hanover (13-1) to an early 2-1 lead.

Hanover’s only other hit netted its only other run in the home fourth. Gantrish singled to right, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on an infield error for a 3-1 cushion.

The Generals rallied with two down in the fifth. Nathan Innerfield singled, Moore reached on a throwing error, Hazzard singled home one run and Philibotte — bound for NEC with Hazzard — roped a two-run double to the left-field corner for the lead.

Grainger had high hopes for a deep tournament run this spring. Instead, geography rather results presented a conundrum Hanover couldn’t solve.

“There’s a piece of me that knew this was going to be a real challenge,” Grainger said, “and I think everybody kind of knew that.”

Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.