Walpole Baseball Overcomes 3-Run Deficit to Advance in MIAA D1 South Tourney

Trailing Barnstable for most of Tuesday's MIAA D1 South quarterfinal game, all it took for the top seeded Walpole High School baseball team was one solid inning to get on top.

Despite trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning after falling behind 3-0 earlier in the game, the Rebels put together a five-run seventh inning enroute to an 8-4 win over Barnstable.

The win represents the second straight tournament game where the Rebels fell behind only to come back and win.

“They’re nine inning tested. We know it’s a long ball game and we can come back. We’ve done it before and we did it again today,” said Walpole coach Bill Tompkins.

With two on and one out in the top of the first inning, the Red Raiders struck first when Terry Mudie’s hit to center field allowed Dan Walsh to score and give Barnstable the early lead.

The Red Raiders continued to control the game with Jack Harrington reaching home on a Cody Pasic triple in the top of the fourth. Pasic himself scored on a sacrifice fly out only two batters later.

Looking to get on the board, Walpole's John Adams got in scoring position with a triple in the bottom of the first inning. A batter later, a ground out from Cam Hanley gave Adams enough time to score and cut the deficit to two.

After tying the game in the fifth inning, Walpole found itself down again after Dan Walsh’s single brought home Chris Fowler to give Barnstable a 4-3 lead.

Despite the momentum for the Red Raiders, disaster would strike in the form of a five-run inning where everything went right for the Rebels.

With two on and two out, a passed ball allowed Ian Fair to score and tie the game at four.

With Hanley at the plate and already responsible for helping produce one run, a double from the third baseman would bring in two more as Walpole took their first lead of the game.

Hanley would later pick up a run of his own off a Rick Ordway single and a fielding error allowed Matt Bender to give Walpole a four-run lead.

Only letting two more Barnstable players on base and neither of them passing first base, the Rebels avoided an upset from the eight seed and advanced to the semi-final of the tournament.

Next up for the No. 1 Rebels is Bridgewater-Raynham in the Division 1 South semifinals on Wednesday, June 5 at 4 p.m. at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.