WRENTHAM, Mass. – When the game started, there was some concern about smoke and rain, but three hours and 11 innings later, light was starting to become an issue at Lombard Field. Wednesday afternoon’s Div. 2 Sweet Sixteen matchup between league rivals North Attleboro and King Philip turned into a marathon.
In the bottom of the 11th, KP was at the plate with its fifth chance to walk off with the win. For the third time in those five innings, KP had the bases loaded and the winning run just 90 feet away. KP coach Jeff Plympton, Jr. decided it was the perfect opportunity to try something different.
With one out, Rudy Gately surprised the North defense by squaring around and pushing a bunt towards the second baseman. The safety squeeze made it just past the mound, North had no play at the plate, and the Warriors celebrated a 4-3 victory and a return to the D2 quarterfinal.
Plympton, Jr. said, “I thought we had a few too many mental errors to win that game and, you know, our pitching kept us in it and gave us that opportunity to finish it off. Rudy is an excellent bunter and I knew that he’d get it down and that he’d get it down far enough that he’d get in.”
Asked what he was looking for in that at-bat, Gately replied, “Just bunting there, a little safety squeeze, just get it in play so we can score. That’s all I needed to do. Struggling at the plate, I think half my hits are bunts right now, so stick with it.”
North Attleboro (8-14) came into the playoffs as the No. 19 seed and went on the road to upset No. 14 Duxbury in the first round. Head coach Mike Hart was proud of the way his team battled one of the favorites for the state title and a team had already beaten the Rocketeers twice this season.
“The last two weeks of practice have been phenomenal,” Hart explained. “KP’s a great team, we knew they were going to fight, and we were ready for it. This caliber of kids is fantastic. Seeing it all come together over the last two games, over the last two weeks of practice, it’s been a fun time.”
Way back in the top of the first, it was North that jumped in front. With two outs, Derek Maceda drew a walk. He stole second and then stole third as well, with the throw getting away into left field to allow him to come home and make it 1-0.
The lead was short-lived. In the bottom half, Matthew Kelley beat out a two-out, infield single to short. Drew Herlin singled to center and the ball was misplayed, allowing Kelley to come all the way around from first and tie things up. Jordan Paradis would make a nice grab on a long fly by Aiden Astorino to end the inning.
In the third, Paradis led off with a single and, with one out, Maceda lined a single to center. He would steal second to put two in scoring position. Cam Hasenfus threw a nasty fastball on the corner to strike out fellow sophomore Gio Martello and then got a high chopper to Brendan Sencaj at third to escape the jam.
KP grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning. Sencaj drew a one-out walk and Kelley crushed a ball that one-hopped the right field fence for a run-scoring triple. Herlin came through with his second hit of the day to bring in Kelley. Dillon Harding gave up a double to Tommy Martorano but Martello made an excellent play on a ball that tipped off Harding’s glove and then the pitcher got a comebacker to end the threat.
It stayed 3-1 until the fifth inning. Paradis led off with a walk and stole second. Hasenfus got a strikeout for the first out, but Maceda smashed a ball over the fence in right for a game-tying homer that sent the North bench (and Hart in the third-base coach’s box) leaping towards the plate in jubilation.
After Martello singled and stole second, sophomore Nate Pennini came in for KP and got a grounder to second and a strikeout to keep the game tied.
The home team’s first chance to win it came in the seventh. Sencaj singled and Kelley followed with a grounder, but North couldn’t get the force at second. After a grounder moved the runners up, Martorano was intentionally walked to load the bases. Martello had another nice play, cutting down the potential winning run at the plate and a bouncer to short ended the inning.
KP had another golden opportunity to win it in the eighth. With two outs, Max Robison hustled to beat out an infield hit. Sencaj lined a double just inside the line in right, putting two in scoring position. Again North intentionally loaded the bases, this time giving Kelley the free pass, and Maceda came in to relieve Harding (7-2/3 innings, two earned runs).
Maceda got Herlin to fly out to left and the game continued on.
“Dillon and Derek have been our horses on the mound,” said Hart. “It was getting close, Dillon’s pitch count was getting up, but there was nobody we were going to put there in that spot. He puts the team on his back, he’s so mentally tough, the situation is never too big for him.”
Both teams had base runners in the ninth, but Leo Dowling threw out Chris Hanewich trying to steal second and Maceda got a strikeout after Gately’s infield single.
North’s best chance to go in front came in the 10th. Pennini walked Harding and Maceda to start the inning, but Sencaj handled a tough grounder and got the lead runner at third for the first out. Pennini (5-2/3 innings, no runs, seven strikeouts) then bore down, striking out the next two hitters to get out of the inning without any damage.
Maceda allowed a leadoff walk in the bottom half, but Nate Kelly threw out Tommy McLeish stealing second. It was the second runner Kelly threw out in extra innings. Martorano came in to pitch the top of the 11th and set North down in order, with a little help from Dowling who made a couple of excellent plays on popped up bunts around the plate.
“Two sophomores, Hasenfus and Pennini, got us the majority of the innings and having Martorano back being able to come in and chuck, he throws hard and got us that last inning that we needed,” said Plympton, Jr.
As the light was starting to dim and there was concern creeping in about how much more baseball could be played on Wednesday, Kelley sparked the Warriors with another infield single. Hanewich made a great running grab on a Herlin ball in the gap, hanging onto it despite a nasty collision with Paradis. Martorano added another infield hit and Astorino was intentionally walked to load the bases.
That brought up Gately with the chance to be a hero. It wasn’t a blast to the gap that would decide the game, but a well-executed bunt, put in just the right spot.
“It’s always hard playing a rivalry team three times in a year,” Gately said. “No matter what the records are, it can always go both ways.” He continued, “It was definitely a long game. We haven’t played a game that long all year. It’s difficult to stay in it, especially all the ups and downs, but we stayed focused in at the end to get the win.”
“We’ve been in tight games, but there’s nothing like this throughout the season,” Plympton, Jr. said. “It’s good to show to the team that we can win these type of games and it’s only going to get harder down the stretch trying to make a good run.”
King Philip (15-7) will host No. 6 Westwood on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 with a spot in the D2 Final Four on the line.
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