WORCESTER, Mass. – It was like déjà vu. For the second season in a row, King Philip was able to push through the gauntlet of the Div. 2 tournament, winning its last three games by two runs or fewer, and reached the state title game. But, standing in the way of a trophy was top seed Milton.
A new season and a new venue, but the result was the same.
The defending state champion Wildcats scored three times in the third inning and tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to pull out a 6-2 victory at Polar Park.
“I thought we were pretty locked in,” KP coach Jeff Plympton, Jr. explained. “We were excited to be back and to play in a venue like this is awesome. The guys were super pumped.
“It didn’t go our way. We’re playing one of the better teams in our division….it happens. I’m super proud of these guys.”
Although KP was disappointed to be leaving with runners up medals for the second year in a row, to be able to reach the final stage in back-to-back seasons is an impressive accomplishment in its own right.
“Absolutely, it’s not an easy thing,” Plympton, Jr. said. “I think that the schedule that we play, playing in the Hockomock League, helps us get back. Moving up to Div. 1 next year isn’t an easy thing, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
KP got off to a great start. Max Robison led off the game by ripping a single up the middle against Milton ace Owen McHugh, who responded by striking out the next two batters. With two down, Drew Herlin lined a single to center. Tommy Martorano followed by knocking a base hit into left and bringing in the game’s opening run.
Milton tried to answer right back in the bottom half of the inning. McHugh drew a leadoff walk against KP starter Rudy Gately and stole second. Brendan Sencaj made a nice play to cut off a bouncer between third and short. After a fly ball to center that moved McHugh to third, Gately closed out the first with a strikeout.
Gately started the second with a single to right and, after another McHugh strikeout, Cam Hasenfus reached on an error. McHugh didn’t allow the Warriors to build additional momentum by striking out a pair and ending the threat.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Ryan Kelly beat out an infield single that went off the glove of Robison’s dive at first. Tommy McLeish ended any rally by making a nice diving grab on a sinking liner at short.
Matthew Kelley had a single in the third, but KP weren’t able to get anything going against McHugh. In the bottom half, Milton grabbed control of the final.
Harrison Hinckle, MIlton’s No. 9 hitter, started things by ripping a double into left center. McHugh followed with a single and then stole second. Jimmy Fallon walked to load the bases and Scott Longo drew a free pass to tie the game. A grounder to McLeish got the runner at second, but a throwing error would allow two runners to come home.
Gately got a grounder and a strikeout to limit the damage, but Milton led 3-1. He then reached on an error in the fourth, but was caught in a rundown trying to take third on a grounder to short. Milton went around the horn on a double play to end the inning.
Things looked comfortable in the bottom of the fourth after two quick outs, but the Wildcats rallied. Hinckle again got things going with a single and then stole second. McHugh turned on an 0-2 pitch and pushed the lead to 4-1.
Robison got a leadoff walk in the fifth, but McHugh ripped off three straight strikeouts. Martorano took over on the hill for the Warriors. A one-out error put a runner in scoring position, but he bounced back with a couple of strikeouts.
KP kept battling and had an opportunity to get into the game in the sixth. With one out, Aidan Astorino drew a walk. Gately reached for the third time, dropping a single into shallow left. McLeish went the other way, knocking a hit between first and second to score Astorino. A wild pitch allowed McLeish to put the tying run at second.
McHugh struck out his 11th batter of the night to put the Wildcats on the edge of escaping the jam. With Robison coming up, Milton turned to lefty Tommy Mitchell out of the pen. A 2-2 pitch got away from catcher Jack Finnegan and Gately tried to take advantage. Although Gately got a good jump, Finnegan pounced quickly and made a perfect toss to Mitchell to get the out at the plate.
Plympton, Jr. said, “It’s tough to get runs and we were at the heart of our lineup and I trust Rudy to make decisions. I support him on that. I thought he got a decent jump and they made a great play. We’re looking to get runs and I can’t fault him for being aggressive.”
The Warriors were only down two, but momentum was fully with Milton. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Jack Sullivan singled to right and stole second. After Hinckle drew a walk to reach base for the third time, a wild pitch moved both into scoring position. Milton continued to make those situations count. Following a strikeout, Fallon lined a single to left to score one.
Fallon appeared to slip while taking his lead with the intention of drawing a throw over. Once Martorano went to first, Hinckle broke for the plate. The throw home got away allowing the second run to score, but Leo Dowling was able to recover and throw out Fallon, who attempted to go first to third on the play.
Mitchell sealed the win for Milton. He got a groundout and a pair of strikeouts before being surrounded by his teammates on the mound, celebrating a second consecutive state title.
“McHugh is an awesome pitcher and Mitchell coming in is like us bringing in Martorano, so we knew they had velocity and I was happy how we responded in that first inning putting a run up,” Plympton, Jr. said. “We went a little flat there and were threatening there at the end but just couldn’t get the hit that we needed.”
King Philip finished the year at 17-8.
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