Boys’ Baseball wins DCL semifinal against AB
June 15, 2021
After coming in second in the DCL during the regular season, the WA Boys’ Baseball team won against AB during the DCL tournament semifinals. The game was played on Saturday, June 12, at 5 pm, with a final score of 5-4.
Having a season record of 2-1 against AB, the team was ready for the tough competition going into the game.
“They’re [AB] well-disciplined, they’re well-coached, they got kids that can hit, so we got to bring our A-game today,” Head Coach Mike Parent said.
The game had a slow start, as the first inning passed without either team scoring.
Not long after, the momentum started to pick up for both teams. AB came in strong during the second inning, loading the bases after just their first four batters. However, they were no more successful than they were the first inning, with their offensive run ending after the fifth batter. On the other hand, after an RBI from junior Damien DiGiovine brought sophomore Matt Morash past home plate, WA scored their first run. They were now at an early lead with a score of 1-0.
Before the WA players had much time to triumph, AB was stepping up to the competition. During the third inning, AB saw its first run and successfully managed to defend the field. None of the four WA batters managed to make it past first base. Moving onto the fourth, AB scored another run and all three WA batters struck out or were forced out at first. AB stole the lead with a score of 2-1.
The fifth inning started strong for AB’s offense, with two more runs scored by players Hudson Gore and Bobby Sweet, bringing the score up to 4-1. However, WA soon began to respond.
Sophomore Ben Mulgrew reflected back on how the team came together before the second half of the fifth inning, determined to make a comeback.
“The energy was kind of down, so our captain Aaron brought us over and said we need to get the energy up and get the bats going again because the game was going down. We knew we’d score some runs for the last inning, and we did,” sophomore Ben Mulgrew said.
After slowly loading the bases and with senior captain Sean Milanette up to bat, the pressure was on for WA to make a comeback. With a two-run double, both DiGiovine and freshman Nick Bonica scored. However, WA did not stop here. After a second batter struck out, junior Carson Cormier was up to bat. A two-run single allowed senior captain Carson Grace and Milanette to score, shifting the lead back to WA in a score of 5-4.
The game cooled down shortly after. AB’s offensive streak came to a screeching halt as none of its batters in the sixth or seventh inning made to first base again. WA, while showing promise in the six inning after loading its bases, failed to score any more runs.
Parent considered the game to be a testament to the persistence that the team carries with them all the time.
“This is how we’ve done it all year. Our kids never quit. […] Today was a perfect example. [We were] down 4 t0 1; things weren’t going our way. The Acton kid was pitching a nice game, but we found a way to win, and that’s what these kids do—they find a way to win,” Parent said.
WA improved to an overall season record of 12-3 and will face Lincoln-Sudbury on June 15 at 4:15 pm in the DCL finals.
“We’re a good team; we have confidence in our pitching, our defense, and our hitting. So, we know that [if] we go in [and] we do well, we can definitely beat some good teams,” Mulgrew said of the finals.
