Norwood Legion Tops Needham, Clinches Top Seed for Playoffs

Norwood Post 70 (15-3) stamped an emphatic mark on a remarkable season with a 19-3 victory over Needham last night - clinching the top seed in the District 6 playoffs.

“We’re not saying we expected to win that way,” said Post 70 coach Paul Samargedlis. “But with this game meaning something, we expected to come out and play hard and we did.”

Norwood notched two unearned runs in the first inning, and then cushioned its advantage the next frame with a six-run spurt featuring a Chris O’Brien two-run triple followed by a John Gorman RBI double.

“We hung in there,” said Post 14 skipper John Gallello. “They’re the strongest team we’ve played. They can hit the ball and everything.”

Needham, which fell 8-3 to Norfolk earlier in the day, closes out the season with a 1-16-1 record and at the bottom of the District 6 West Division.  

“We finished last because we didn’t have the talent,” said Gallello. “If you don’t have the talent, you can’t play this game at this level.”

Post 70 garnered a 17-0 lead before Post 14 managed any offensive life, which arrived with three-run sixth inning. Two of those scores came as runners reached home from third after the catcher attempted to throw out base runners stealing second base. The other run was tallied on a Brent Luster RBI single to left field.