Table of Contents
In the state tournament, you take it one game at a time, and the Winchester High School baseball team (13-8, 32 nd seed) has taken that first step, and won it by beating Beverly (12-8, 33 rd seed) at home, 6-4 in a Division 1 preliminary round game on May 30.
As a reward, the Red & Black now has to take on Taunton (16-6), the top seed in the division on Monday afternoon (June 2) in Taunton, starting at 4 p.m.
The Tigers have won three Division 1 state championships in the last five years. Last year, Durfee knocked them off in the Sweet 16, 6-1. Needless to say, the Tigers’ recent success story is where Winchester second year head coach Ed McDonald would like to take the Red & Black someday. They have a chance to make that leap to the elite with a win over their Hockomock League counterparts in Monday’s Round of 32 game.
“The win over Beverly was huge for this program,” said McDonald. “The six runs that we got in this game were all with two outs against a future college pitcher. He mowed us down in the first couple of innings, but we were able to make adjustments to get to their bullpen.”
The Panthers of Beverly scored first in the second inning of Friday night’s game, but the home team did all of its work on offense in the third, scoring all six of its runs to take the lead for good. They had as many hits as runs, but the bottom is that they made all of them count.
First baseman Brett Daniels powered the attack with two hits, including a homerun, that resulted in two RBI. Junior catcher Ronan O’Connell doubled in a run. Third baseman Brendan Bock singled in two. Senior captain Alex Casey drove home one run with a base hit. Nick Penicaud chipped in with a single.
But it was Nick’s arm that ultimately shutdown the Northeastern Conference school over seven innings. The sophomore hurler allowed seven hits, but just one walk throughout his complete game winning effort. He also whiffed seven, and only two of Beverly’s four runs were earned off him.
But now, the team’s attention turns to perennial powerhouse Taunton.
“We are excited for the opportunity to play Taunton,” said McDonald. “They are No. 1 for a reason, but our group believes we can compete against them.”
