RallyNorth.net

Ugly win suits Hornets just brilliantly

Tuesday, June, 12 By Hector Longo

BROCKTON — They were two of the grimiest, grungiest, sketchy runs you'll ever see plated in a baseball game.
To the folks in North Reading, magical history.

The feisty Hornets, down 3-2 in the Eastern Mass. Division 3 title game, scrounged together the tying run in the fifth and the game-winner in the sixth to go on and outlast South champion East Bridgewater, 5-3, here at Campanelli Stadium.

Saturday at Holy Cross in Worcester, North Reading returns to the state title game for the first time since 1986, facing the Oxford-Mt. Everitt winner.

In typical North Reading fashion, the runs were part patience, part pressure and a dab of weird-but-good fortune.

Take the fifth. Keith Linnane opened with a walk, stole second, then broke one of the simplest base-running rules in the game, knotting things up at 3-3 because of it.

Linnane hesitated as Kyle Boucher's bounding ball crossed by him on the way to shortstop. The Hornet catcher broke for third and would have been out by 15 feet, but Ethan Forrest chose to throw to first, air-mailing one into right to score Linnane.

"I know it's supposed to be a hold there," said Linnane. "It was a  dumb play, but I really think I surprised hin by going. He had no idea I'd be going, so it worked."

In the sixth, another free pass put North Reading in business, this time with Dennis Rollfs leading the way. Pinch-runner Jeremy Schaefer took over from there, scooting to second on a wild pitch, third on an errant pickoff and home on Colby Maiola' looper over the drawn-in infield.

Starting pitcher R.J. Warnock would add an insurance run by singling to right and later scoring on a pitch to the backstop.

Energized with the lead, Warnock went for the jugular and pretty much had his way with five straight outs — four via the strikeout.

But EB had one last gasp as a walk and an infield error put Vikes at second and third. After an intentional walk to Casey DeAndrade, Warnock got Austin Goldberg on a lazy fly to center to end it.

"We made some mistakes, but luckily in the end things worked out," said Hornets coach Frank Carey.
Warnock, in presenting Carey with a desirable dilemma — whom he should pitch in the state title game. Ryan McAulife, Saturday's winner in the North title game, will be fully rested with a full week of rest.

Meanwhile, Warnock, now 11-2, will have Wednesday through Friday to chill out. He'll most likely come out of relief on Saturday.