RallyNorth.net

Whittier storms into North finals

Thursday, June, 10 By Jeff Hamrick

LOWELL — Not even a rain storm could dampen the Whittier baseball team’s unprecedented run.

In a Division 3 North match up between Commonwealth Conference opponents both of which were playing in the semifinals for the first time in school history, the second-seeded Wildcats defeated Greater Lowell at Alumni Field in a game called in the bottom of the fifth because of rain. The victory sends Whittier (19-4) into Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game against eighth-seeded Amesbury (16-7) at LeLacheur Park in Lowell.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited right now,” said Whittier starter Billy Lafferty, who ran his record to 3-1. “I don’t even know what to say. This is the farthest any Whittier team has ever made it, and now we’re going to the championship. This is pretty awesome.”

Lafferty let his right arm do the talking against the eight-seeded Gryphons (16-7), allowing single hits in the third, fourth and fifth innings while walking two and striking out five. The senior’s biggest moment was a called-third strike on Lowell’ cleanup-hitter Corey Donovan with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth — moments before the game was halted when the skies opened up.

“I could’ve kept going, but I’m glad they called it,” said Lafferty, who also earned the win over Lowell in a regular-season victory.

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the third with a two-out triple by Steve Surette, who then scored on a wild pitch by Lowell starter and loser Curtis Hamilton.

“We’ve done a lot with two outs this year,” said Surette, who along with Brandon Martinez combined for four of Whittier’s seven hits. “We’re just like a two-out team.”

Whittier again struck with two outs the following inning on a rally that began with a walk to Nate Allen and singles by Martinez and Andrew Wells to load the bases. Catcher Colby Starner then delivered the game’s biggest hit with a two-run single through the hole on the left side.

“He kept throwing me curve balls all day,” Starner said. “I thought he was going to throw me another one, but he gave me a fastball that was too close to take. It just ended up going through the hole. It was the biggest hit of my career, I think.”

Surette followed up with an RBI single to left to give Whittier it’s 4-0 lead.

As the rain turned from a drizzle to a more steady pace, Greater Lowell used a walk, a single and a hit batter to load the bases in the top of the fifth before Lafferty blew a 2-2 pitch past Donovan for his third strikeout of the inning.

“There were so many momentum changes, I’m glad we didn’t have another one,” Whittier coach Joe Boland said. “This has been good for the whole conference. The CAC has been well represented.”

With five players on the roster who played on Whittier’s Division 4 Eastern Massachusetts title-winning football team coached by athletic director Kevin Bradley, the Wildcats are now three wins shy of closing out the school year the way it began. But don’t mention that to the coach.

“The kids talk about that, but I don’t want to jinx ourselves,” Boland said. “It’s nerve-racking enough not to start talking about that stuff. But a win would be a lot of fun. We’re just looking to play a good game against Amesbury. We’re not talking wins and losses, let’s just play well.”