RallyNorth.net

Masconomet eyes state finals

Tuesday, June, 10 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

How might you spend the night before one of the biggest games of your life?

If you were a member of the Division 2 North champion Masconomet baseball team, you'd simply be watching baseball.

Some people might prefer the peace and quiet of a night at home. Others would be focused on some sort of superstitious routine. Instead, several Chieftains made the trek to Braintree last night to watch the determination of their opponent in the Division 2 South final, won by Plymouth North, 5-3 over Dighton-Rehoboth.

"We just want to check them out," said Masco second baseman and co-captain Cam Greeley. "We want to get an idea what kind of style of teams they are and what they're all about."

The Chieftains (19-5) will be back in Braintree tonight | this time with their cleats on. Masconomet faces Plymouth North's undefeated Blue Eagles at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's state championship game against the Central/Western Mass. winner at Lowell's LeLacheur Park.

"We were right back to work at practice (Monday) and had a good day," said Greeley. "We're really focused on getting after it (today)."

For Masconomet, getting after it typically means knocking the ball all over the park. The Boxford Bombers' remarkably balanced offense featured five players that drove in 20 or more runs: sophomore shortstop Chris Splinter (26 RBIs), senior Kyle Shepard (23), sophomore Evan Bunker (23), senior James Riordan (23) and junior Pat Matvichuk (22).

There's been a bit of a power outage of late, however. The Chieftains totaled just three hits in each of their last two games: a 5-1 win over Madison Park in the semis and a 1-0, eight-inning classic over Danvers in Saturday's North final.

Is the team that's hitting a combined .311 this season concerned about its offense? Not really. Wins are wins, and the Chieftains give a lot of the credit to the quality of pitchers they've faced recently | especially Danvers' Bobby Dean.

"(Dean) is probably the best pitcher in the state | we probably won't see another one like him. Against Danvers, we were focused on getting a run across anyway we could," Greeley, who scored the game's only run Saturday on Kyle Shepard's eighth inning double, explained. "Hopefully, (tonight) we can get back to doing what we usually do (at the plate)."

Three days after handing Dean the first pitching loss of his high school career, the Chieftains are looking to ruin another perfect mark.

Plymouth North is 24-0 and has thrived on the pitching talents of Joe Flynn, Evan Martinsen and Tim MacInnes | who combined to go 14-0 with an earned run average under 2.00 in the regular season.

The Chieftains are expected to counter with Shepard, a senior captain who is 7-0 himself with a 2.32 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 45<1/3> innings of work.

"We have all the confidence in the world in Shep. He's been pitching great for us all year," said Greeley. "He has one of the better fastballs on the team and he can throw any of his pitches in a given spot."

Thanks in part to an outstanding effort from Riordan | who threw six innings before yielding to the closer, Bunker | on Saturday, Masco will also have Dan Duval (5-1, 1.56 ERA) ready to go if needed.

Masconomet should have the edge in experience after advancing to the North final last season, while Plymouth North fell in the second round. Still, the Blue Eagles have an impressive tradition as they've been to the state tourney 14 straight seasons and won the Atlantic Coast League in eight of those years.

"It's a new feeling now and I'm sure there'll be some nerves going in," Greeley said. "Right when we step on the field, all of that will pass. We'll be ready to go."

If the current playoffs are any indicator, Masconomet outscored their opponents 30-10 in four tourney wins, while the Blue Eagles amassed an aggregate score of 20-10 in their four contests.

Of course, rest should also be in the Chieftains' corner since Plymouth North had to outlast a solid Dighton-Rehoboth team in the South final just last night.

"I think we should have an advantage. Both of those teams are solid and they had to throw their ace, so we'll have that in our corner," said Greeley.