Dedham Babe Ruth Advances to Finals With Series Win

Summer baseball can truly be a cherished experience in these parts, especially when the nights cool down and there is a nice breeze to drive the mosquitoes away.

What makes it even better is winning, and Dedham’s Senior Babe Ruth team is doing exactly that.

Dedham won the rubber match of their best-of-three series with Weymouth Wednesday evening at after dropping a tough one Tuesday night by a score of 6-5.

Mike Ryan, led his team Wednesday to a 6-1 win with his performance on the mound and at the plate.

“He came through with a great performance,” said Dedham manager Kevin Hampe

Ryan (3-for-3, 2B, 2 runs) used his great command of his curveball and fastball in scattering six hits and fanning six Weymouth hitters for the complete game win.

This was Ryan’s second series-clinching win in as many series for his finals-bound Dedham team, which earned high praises from Hampe following the game.

“He is learning to throw his curveball and mixing up speeds,” said Hampe, “which makes his fastball that much faster.”

Dedham got on the board in the second when Ryan doubled to left. Ben Walsh then singled home Ryan to tie the game at 1-1.

Jeremy Clifford added the go-ahead run with an RBI single that scored Walsh, and Ryan took the game over from there on out.

"Just throwing the curveball and stuff," said Ryan, "just throwing as many strikes as possible because if you walk people it’s a lot tougher to pitch."

The win puts Dedham into the Senior Babe Ruth Finals against front-runner South Boston on Friday night.

The game will be held in South Boston at 5:45 p.m., as Dedham looks to avenge an earlier 8-5 loss where they could only field nine players.

“It’s a little more pressure every time you go a little further in the playoffs,” said Hampe. “It should be a good series.”

Look for Hampe to start either Connor McDonald or Mike Sabatino in game 1 of the series with the possibility of bringing back Ryan in game 2.

"Mike got stronger as the innings went on," said Hampe. "Then we got a big inning with all those runs, so it was good."

Dedham, which has been scoring runs in bunches in the last two series, again relied on the big inning in the Weymouth win.

Mike Sabatino led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk, and he reached third on a single by Ryan. After Sabatino scored on a passed ball, Matt McIsaac lined a single to score Ryan. Clifford added another RBI with a double after Dedham had successfully executed a hit-and-run with Anthony Valentino at the plate.

“This is the purpose of the whole team,” said Hampe, “to get them to play more ball and play in some pressure situations, so that they can win some games at the high school.”