The Stoughton Post 89 Baseball Team has won 4 of their last 5 to move to 4-3 on the season, giving them 8 points in the standings. Based on the point system, they are tied with Morrissette (Quincy) heading into Monday night action.
Last Thursday, Stoughton edged Milton, 6-4 behind great relief pitching from Justin "Hutch" Hutchinson and Zach Gibb. They also got a good start from Connor Camuso-Sullivan, who left after 4 innings with the score tied 4-4.
Milton loaded the bases with none out against Hutchinson in the 5th with the aid of an error, infield hit and a walk, but the crafty Freshman phenom pitched out of trouble with a little help from his defense. Catcher, Pat Jackman made a great running catch as he slid into the backstop on a short foul pop up, then center fielder, Jovani Pires, made a spectacular diving catch in right center field, then turned it into an inning-ending double play when the runner left third base early.
In the home half of the 5th, Post 89 struck for 2 runs to break the tie as Mike Gallagher and Hutchinson each drove in runs with clutch singles. Zach Gibb then needed only 20 pitches over 2 innings to close out the game for Stoughton.
"Those two plays by Pat (Jackman) and Jovani (Pires) really turned the game around," marveled Post 89 Assistant Coach, Kevin McCormick. "And give 'Hutch' credit for making some real quality pitches with the bases loaded. He doesn't get flustered easy and has unbelievable composure for a young pitcher."
On Father's Day, Stoughton was matched up against Holbrook, who came in at 3-0 on the season. Holbrook sprinted out to a 4-0 lead after 2 against Post 89 and looked to be ready to run away with this one as Holbrook pitcher, Nick Roach retired the first 8 batters before Matt Gallagher was hit by a pitch in his first Legion at bat. But after a Pat Jackman single, Roach escaped any damage to keep it at 4-0.
Post 89 starting pitcher, Mike Gallagher, wasn't phased by some early miscues and the 4 runs as he settled in and quieted the Holbrook attack. He kept the game within reach before giving way to Sam Werman in the 5th.
Stoughton Post 89 finally got on the board in the 5th inning as they cut the Holbrook lead in half. Singles by Jovani Pires, Nic Panasci and Connor Camuso-Sullivan loaded the bases with no outs. Freshman Matt Gallagher almost cleared the bases with a line drive to center that nearly got over the Holbrook outfielder's head, but the shot was good enough to plate Pires with the first Stoughton run. One out later, Justin Hutchinson singled home Panasci to bring Stoughton to within 2 runs.
In the 6th, Post 89 inched closer as Mike Gallagher and Sam Werman led off with consecutive hits to put runners at the corners. Gallagher scored on a fielder's choice to cut the Holbrook lead to 4-3. The hometown boys then tied it up in the 7th inning against a tough left-handed relief pitcher for Holbrook. Matt Gallagher reached on a base on balls to start the bottom of the 7th inning. With one out, Stoughton put a little hit and run on and Justin Hutchinson grounded one to the left side. The throw seemed to pull the 1st baseman off the bag, but "Hutch" was called out to put a runner on second base with two outs. Pat Raeke quickly fell behind 0-2 on two nasty curveballs, but the big lefty first baseman wasn't daunted as he ripped a clutch line drive single to center field to knot the score at 4 and send the game to extra innings. That at bat brought praise from Post 89 Manager, Jim Derochea. "I told Pat Raeke that that at bat was a 'big boy' at bat! He was down 0-2 against a real tough lefty who had started him out with two perfect curve balls, but Pat kept it simple, shortened his stroke and lined a good pitch to center to tie the game. That was clutch!"
Holbrook threatened in the 8th as they loaded the bases with one out, but Werman buckled down and struck out the next batter before inducing a lazy infield pop out to end the threat. Post 89 used that momentum to get things going in the bottom of 8th as Jovani Pires ripped a leadoff single to left. Nic Panasci then put a a quality at bat and finally lofted a tough pitch on the outside corner to right field that fell in just inside the line and just out of reach of the right fielder to put runners at first and second with no outs. Reading the tempo of the pitcher, Pires promptly stole third on the second pitch to Camuso-Sullivan and then scampered home when the throw skipped into left field for the walk off win.
"We came out really flat today but once we got our focus back on track in the middle innings, we played our type of baseball, stated Derochea. "It was a solid team win, a real character win."
Stoughton Post 89 has a busy week as they get right back to work against Morrissette on the road on Monday at 8pm at Adams Field in Quincy. They also travel to Canton High (5:45pm) on Thursday, sandwiched between home games on Wednesday (vs Weymouth) and Friday (vs Hyde Park), both at Stoughton High School. First pitch for home games are slated for 5:45pm.
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