Plymouth North Defeats Oliver in South Sectional Semifinal

Things weren't looking good for the Eagles.

A two-run homer from Oliver Ames' David Mackinnon after a Jim Sullivan walk to start the game seemed to be a continuation of the Tigers' momentum.

Then, the Eagles started to swing the bats.

Plymouth North scored one run in the bottom of the first and 11 more in the bottom of the second en route to a 12-3 win over OA.

No. 6 Plymouth North will move on to play either No. 4 Hopkinton or No. 1 Dighton Rehoboth in the South Sectional Finals. Oliver Ames ends its season with a 14-9 record.

"I knew we could do it but I’m thrilled to be here," Plymouth North Coach Dwayne Follette said. "This is our fifth sectional final in a row so I’m really proud and really happy."

The Blue Eagles' offense was supplemented by a dominant pitching performance from ace Alex Rozak, who allowed two runs on four hits while striking out six.

He settled down after the first inning.

"That’s his 23rd career victory for us," Follette said. "You give him the ball and he battles. I thought he lost a little bit of his composure when [MacKinnon] hit the home run and then he battled back. They’re very good, 1-6 in their lineup. We said keep the leadoff hitter off. I think he got rattled when he walked him on that 3-2 pitch. But, after that, he settled down and he was dominant."

 A combination of base hits and sacrifice bunts from Plymouth North, coupled with errors on the part of the Tigers in the second inning put the Blue Eagles in the drivers seat.

"We knew that they could bunt and they could run," Oliver Ames head coach Leo Duggan said. "Give them credit. They’re a great high school team. They beat us off the line and we screwed up the bunt rotation, and they’re just like sharks, they come when they smell blood."

After getting two on to start the second, pinch hitter Vinny Taronelli ripped a ball down the left field line.

"He’s been struggling," Follette said. "That was the first base hit that gave us the 3-2 lead and then we had that big inning that followed. I thought that pinch hit by Taronelli was really big for us."

Senior lefty Ryan O'Shea relieved senior pitcher Dave Holmes in the second inning and pitched through the fifth.

O'Shea had not pitched due to injury for the majority of the season.

"He wanted to come in," Duggan said. "I let him pitch. He did alright. I wish we had him all year. But to win 14 games without him is still a pretty good accomplishment and get to the semifinals, we just couldn’t come through [today]."