Sharon Outlasts Oliver Ames, Rides into Semis

A once-comfortable 2-0 advantage had turned tenuous for the Sharon High baseball team against Oliver Ames in Tuesday’s Division II South Quarterfinal at Frothingham Park.

The host Tigers put the tying runs on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, threatening to spoil an excellent start by Sharon’s Will Ginsberg and clutch Eagle hitting throughout.

But Sharon senior captain Jake Fishman delivered a virtuoso performance in relief, spanning two incredibly pressure-packed innings, including retiring Hockomock League MVP David MacKinnon on a pop-out in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded.

Fishman’s efforts helped the #10-seed Eagles knock rival and #2-seed Oliver Ames out of the playoffs and send Sharon to the Sectional Semifinal to face Stoughton on Wednesday.

Sharon Head Coach Joel Peckham said, “It certainly was an emotionally packed, positive, great experience - just to play as well as we did. It was a big win.”

“It was unbelievable how we played today,” said senior captain Colin Gray. “Today, we were able to hold them completely scoreless. We played great defense, and we had timely two-out hitting by both Max [Bauman] and BK [Brad Kaufman]. That was all we needed.”

The Eagles came into Tuesday’s game with momentum following a stellar showing in a 6-1 victory over Dighton-Rehoboth to open the playoffs. The Tigers, meanwhile, rested, thanks to a first-round bye following their 15-5 regular season. Sharon and Oliver Ames, Davenport Division adversaries, split the regular-season-series.

Following a rainout of the game on Monday, Oliver Ames starter Brandon Welch set the Eagles down in the top of the first.

In their first opportunity offensively, the Tigers placed runners on second and third on a single, walk, and balk. But Ginsberg recorded a strikeout and a groundout to keep Oliver Ames off the scoreboard.

Ginsberg says that in escaping the first-inning jam, he settled into a groove. “That’s when I really started to bear down. Today, I was really able to focus in on what we were doing.

“Even with runners in scoring position, there’s that little switch that goes off. You’re just like, ‘You’ve got to throw strikes.’ After the first inning, I just set in, and I was in the zone,” Ginsberg added.

The Eagles drew first blood in the third inning. Junior second baseman Michael Birschbach led off and tallied Sharon’s first hit of the game, a two-strike liner down the right-field line. Senior designated hitter Kevin McLaughlin followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt to push Birschbach to second.

With two out, Kaufman, a senior captain, laced a ball into center field. The Tiger outfielder couldn’t grab the liner, and Birschbach came home to put the Eagles up, 1-0. Bauman said, “The hits were going from there [on].”

Gray said that taking the early lead over Oliver Ames was important. “When you score first, especially against a team like that, they can start to get on their heels a little bit. We had them forcing it the whole game, and we made it a difficult hole for them to get out of.”

Sharon used a nearly identical formula to tack on another run in the fifth inning. Senior Eric Lesser opened the flurry with a single, and Birschbach advanced him with a bunt.

Bauman, a junior in the #9-spot in the lineup, then ripped a two-out, two-strike single, plating Lesser and giving the Eagles a 2-0 advantage.

“There was a big gap in left-center; the centerfielder was playing to the right side of second base,” said Bauman. “I just got a nice pitch over the inside part of the plate, got my hand on top of the ball like Coach was telling me, and drove it into the left-center gap.”

Peckham was impressed with the Eagles’ grinding out both runs. “We executed – got on, bunted, and got a base hit. To get ahead 1-0 [is great], but to get ahead 2-0 – that’s such a significant thing,” he said.

When Sharon was in the field, Ginsberg kept Oliver Ames’ bats at bay. The Eagle southpaw retired 14 of 15 Tiger batters in the middle innings, with nine of them coming on strikeouts.

Peckham used the word “amazing” when describing Ginsberg’s outing. “I didn’t know how well Will would pitch. He really showed me something.

“He pitched way better than I thought he was capable of at this point – under the pressure, playing Oliver Ames, over there [at Frothingham] with all the people there. He really came through,” Peckham added.

“I had a very good fastball,” said Ginsberg. “The past couple of games, I had been leaving the ball up a little bit, but today, I got the ball down at the knees. That was really working; I was able to locate my fastball. And the curveball was doing pretty well.”

Ginsberg says that the experience of being hit hard by Hopkinton as a sophomore in the Eagles’ Quarterfinal loss to end last season helped him with preparing for Tuesday’s start.

“Last year, I was very nervous; I was a little shaky. But today, with that experience, it helped me out a lot; I had been here before. It felt good,” he said.

“Will pitched lights-out,” said Gray. “He ran into a little trouble in the first inning, but he really came through, battled back. That’s a real bulldog effort out there on the mound.”

Sharon had an excellent opportunity to extend their 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning, loading the bases with one down. However, Tiger pitcher Chris Servello, who came in for starter Brandon Welch, got out of the jam, keeping his squad’s deficit at two.

In the bottom of sixth inning, following consecutive walks to start the frame, Peckham called Fishman in from right field to replace Ginsberg.

Peckham says that he had discussed with Fishman on Monday with possibility of him pitching vs. Oliver Ames; the lefthander last threw in a complete-game effort on Friday. Peckham said, “I said, ‘Can you give us an inning or two?’ He said, ‘Definitely.’”

With the sizable Oliver Ames crowd making noise, Fishman struck out Hockomock League All-Star Andrew Mancini for the first out in the inning. After another strikeout by Fishman, there was a grounder into the hole to the right of senior shortstop Eric Lesser.

Lesser fielded the ball cleanly, gathered, and fired over to first base, and a Pedersen all-out stretch nipped the batter coming down the line by a half-step, as well as prevented the ball from getting past first base. Side retired, no runs allowed.

Gray said, “When Jake came in, they knew it was over. We knew it was over. He just closed the door on those guys – made it really, really difficult for them to make some sort of a rally.”

But Oliver Ames had one more kick at the can, and they made it a strong one. After the Eagles didn’t score in the top of the seventh, Alex Geba led off with an infield hit for the Tigers in the bottom half.

A hit-by-pitch put the potential tying run on base. Fishman struck out the next batter, but the #9-hitter walked on a full-count pitch, loading the bases and moving the potential winning run to first base.

Then, MacKinnon, the Oliver Ames leadoff hitter, came up to bat, setting up a battle of Hock MVP vs. runner-up with the ballgame on the line. The latter, Fishman, prevailed, as he induced MacKinnon to hit a pop-fly to shallow center field, which Kaufman snagged easily.

Peckham said, “They have three or four kids who are legitimately outstanding baseball players – [including] their shortstop [MacKinnon] and catcher [Mancini] – and we really, basically, did a good job on them. They didn’t hurt us.”

One batter separated the Eagles from a berth in the South Semifinals. With the crowd remaining on its feet, the bases still juiced, and two away, Fishman blew three pitches past the batter to seal the Sharon victory. “He’s a star. He handled it,” Peckham said.

Peckham says that defeating Oliver Ames was a significant accomplishment. “That’s two-out-of-three [wins over the Tigers on the season]. But to beat them at home, and to beat them with the pressure that was there, both teams playing well – it was a great win.”

“OA was the best team in our league this year,” Gray said. “To beat those guys - it’s a great confidence booster. Now, we’ve got to get over the hump of Stoughton and get to the [sectional] final.”

Sharon will be back at it on Wednesday, when the Eagles head to Wheaton College to take on another Davenport Division foe, #6-seed Stoughton, at 4 pm. The Black Knights beat Sharon twice during the regular season.

“Stoughton is a very good team,” Peckham said. “We did not play well against them. To beat them would be equal, in many ways, to beating OA.”

A major reason for the regular-season defeats to Stoughton was the lack of clutch hits. Gray says that the Eagles are confident in that regard, having come through offensively in crucial spots vs. Oliver Ames.

“I think that if we get that timely hitting and keep playing stellar defense,” Gray said, “I think we’ll be able to come through with a win and you’ll see us in the [sectional] final.”