Milton holds off late Braintree rally
BRAINTREE — Milton’s 2021 baseball season has been historic in many ways.
The school captured its first Bay State Conference regular season title since 2008 entering the league playoffs, and in a normal year, the Wildcats would be competing for a Super Eight title.
On Sunday, the Wildcats added one more accomplishment to their portfolio.
Colin Hoey, Graham O’Donnell, Jimmy Fallon and Ryan Dexter each drove in a pair of runs, and Charlie Walker earned the win as Milton captured the inaugural Bay State Conference tournament title with a dramatic 8-6 victory over rival Braintree.
“These guys don’t shake,” said Milton coach Brendan Morrissey. “That’s been our motto all year. We don’t shake, we just keep competing together.”
In the top of the first inning, Walker struggled to find his rhythm. The Northeastern-bound hurler surrendered a leadoff triple to Jordan Gorham, then allowed a walk to Ryan Mikalauskis. Chase Cahill laced an RBI single to left, and in the blink of an eye, Braintree was ahead, 1-0.
However, Walker would come through with a strikeout to leave the bases loaded, and in the bottom half of the frame, the Wildcats (14-2) responded against Gorham, who got the start for Braintree. With two runners in scoring position, Hoey roped a single to center, scoring both as Milton jumped in front, 2-1. A few batters later, Morrissey sent Dexter up as a pinch hitter to fill in for Ryan Kelley, and the junior blasted one into the gap in left-center, plating two more as the Wildcats built a 4-1 advantage.
From that point on, both Gorham and Walker would coast until the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Milton loaded the bases, and with just one out in the frame, O’Donnell rolled a grounder into center field for a 2-run single, then Fallon followed things up with a 2-run single of his own as Milton went up 8-1. At that point, it appeared the Wildcats were going to coast to the finish.
But whenever you are facing one of the premier teams in the state, you can never count them out, and like clockwork, Braintree found an offensive spark in the top half of the sixth inning.
The Wamps quickly loaded the bases against Walker, and they would take advantage, plating five runs. The biggest blow came off the bat of Brian Lawton, who blooped an RBI single to right to slice it to an 8-6 game. During the inning, Morrissey pulled Walker in favor of Owen McHugh, who eventually silenced the Braintree rally.
As McHugh stared in to make his final pitch in the seventh inning, he knew there was plenty at stake. The rising star was one strike away from clinching the game.
After a brief pause, McHugh reared back, and fired a rising fastball past a swinging Gorham, and the Wildcats stormed out to celebrate with the sophomore on the mound.
“It felt great,” McHugh said. “Coach was talking about it all week, how this was one of our three goals this season. And this was the biggest one so far. It was a lot of fun.”
Now, the Wildcats will look to accomplish their third, and ultimately final goal of the season, by making a run at a Div. 2 sectional title. The MIAA is set to unveil its tournament fields later this week.
“That’s a Milton-Braintree battle in the Bay State League,” said Morrissey. “Coach (Bill) O’Connell always has those guys ready to go. They don’t quit, they had their rally there. Luckily, we were able to weather the storm.”