Final a first for Needham
Rockets eliminate Latin, will face St. Peter-Marian
BASEBALL
BROCKTON — One week after capturing its first sectional title ever, Needham will play for a much larger prize.
Alex Sharton collected three hits and an RBI while Charlie Roberts recorded the final four outs as Needham defeated Boston Latin, 6-3, last night at Campanelli Stadium to advance to the Division 1 state final.
The Rockets (17-8) will make their first final appearance on Saturday against St. Peter-Marian at Holy Cross (6:30 p.m.).
“The town has never been to the state final before so to go out there and put Needham baseball on the map is something we are all really proud of,” said Roberts.
Needham starter Tom Chmielewski went the first 52⁄3 innings, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out four to pick up the win before turning it over to Roberts to close it out.
Trailing 4-0 in the top of the fifth, Boston Latin scored three times without the benefit of a hit. Three walks loaded the bases with two outs and a slow dribbler to third base resulted in an errant throw down the right field line that brought home three runs to pull the Wolfpack 4-3.
One half inning later the Rockets gained some insurance. Two walks and an error loaded the bases and Roberts lofted a sacrifice fly to center to put Needham on top by two. Steven Donovan then chopped an RBI groundout to give Needham a 6-3 lead.
“Even though we were up we treated the whole game as if we were down,” said Needham coach Matt Howard. “We put a couple of runs there in the fifth to get some breathing room. To do this, its a really special experience.”
Needham jumped in front early, using its aggressiveness at the plate to their advantage. With two on and two out, Sharton lined an RBI single to center and one pitch later Will Foley collected an RBI hit to put the Rockets up 2-0.
The Wolfpack had a golden opportunity to tie the game in their fourth as a Charlie Bean base hit, a walk, and a sacrifice bunt put two in scoring position with one out. Chmielewski, however, generated a pop up and a ground out to evade the jam unscathed.
Division 4
Archbishop Williams 11, Hamilton-Wenham 5 — After losing in the Div. 4 state final last season, the Bishops earned themselves another trip back to the title game by taking down the Generals.
Senior James Dolan was 4-for5 with two runs scored, pacing a Bishops offense that ripped off 14 hits and scored multiple runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings to earn a date against Oxford in Saturday’s final at Holy Cross.
“I am just so proud of my guys because we’ve faced some adversity in the tournament,” said Archbishop Williams coach James Dolan. “We always talk about playing a full seven innings and today we kept playing until the end.”
Leading 2-0 after a two-run single from junior Ryan Bellew (three hits, four RBI) in the second inning, the Bishops (17-9) put up a crooked number in the fourth to jump out in front 7-0.
No. 9 hitter David Ryan started the scoring rally with an RBI single before Kyle Strojny doubled home another run to make it 4-0. Consecutive run-scoring singles from Dolan, Samuel Hamer and Bellew made it a seven-run game.
Hamilton-Wenham (18-6) rallied with five runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI at-bats from Hunter Wilichoski (two-run double), Adam Parady, Quinlan Kelly and Ian Coffey, cutting the lead to 7-5, but the Bishops answered in the sixth on an RBI double by Bellew to push the advantage back to 8-5.
And in the seventh, Archbishop Williams put the game on ice with three runs before relief pitcher Brandon Sullivan closed out the Generals in the bottom of the inning.
“We made the state finals last year and came up short,” Dolan said. “We’re going into Saturday looking to complete some unfinished business.”