FRANKLIN, Mass. – The Hockomock League is invading the Super 8 tournament.
For the first time in its five year existence, the Super 8 will include a Hockomock team; two teams, in fact, as both Mansfield and Franklin were selected by the tournament committee at the MIAA offices on Sunday evening.
Mansfield was the fourth team nominated in the first round and Franklin was put up for discussion three teams later. Both received a 5-2 vote from committee members, which put them into the second round for reconsideration.
BC High and St. John’s Prep were the only two teams of the 14 nominated that received unanimous 7-0 votes in the first round to get automatic bids. Franklin and Mansfield were joined by Central Catholic, Wachusett, Walpole, Austin Prep, St. John’s Shrewsbury, Catholic Memorial and Lexington up for consideration in the second round.
In the second round, the vote goes one-by-one to each committee member and the first school to get four votes is in. Wachusett and Central Catholic were the first two teams to get the required votes, putting them into the Super 8 field.
Mansfield, which got three votes in the round that Central Catholic was put in, picked up four straight votes in the third go around to secure it’s spot in the Super 8, resulting in a big sigh of relief from head coach Joe Breen.
“I was less nervous proposing to my fiancé,” Breen said. “We’re excited for our boys, they’ve worked really hard and this has been a goal of their’s, not just this year but for the last couple of years. We’re happy to get an opportunity to compete against the best and that’s what we’ll have the chance to do with the teams that are in with us.
“The kids we’ve coached over the last couple of years are just as much apart of this. We’re just happy for everyone in the program.”
Walpole and Lexington each picked up four votes to bring the Super 8 field to seven. With just one spot left, Franklin received the first two votes only for St. John’s Shrewsbury to get the next two. But the Panthers picked up the next two votes to earn the final spot in the tournament.
“I’m just excited to get back over the field tonight, our guys are waiting to scrimmage so it’s going to be a great moment to go share with them,” said Franklin head coach Zach Brown. “They’ve worked really hard. They wanted to be the first Franklin team to make the Super 8, it was definitely a goal that they set out for. We tried to make sure scheduling wise we gave them an opportunity to make that a reality.”
While Mansfield will hold the bragging rights for being the first Hockomock team in the Super 8, albeit by three minutes, Breen was equally excited when the Panthers secured the final spot.
“I’m jacked up for Coach Brown and the Franklin boys,” Breen said. “Obviously they are our biggest competitors during the season but I respect the heck out of their team, players, and staff. I was really excited they got in, they certainly deserved it.”
Brown was quick to reciprocate the respect.
“We’re really excited for Mansfield,” Brown said. “Joe’s done such a great job at Mansfield and I have so much respect for their program and everything that they’ve done for the Hock.”
After the teams were selected for the Super 8, the committee voted on the seeding. Mansfield earned the #5 seed and will play at #4 Central Catholic. Franklin was seeded at #7 and will travel to play #2 Wachusett. Both games are scheduled for Wednesday at 4:00 PM.
“They have a lefty, and he’s nasty,” Breen said of CC. “But we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do against [Central Catholic].”
“I know they are extremely talented and it’s going to take a great effort on our part to go to their place and get a ‘W.’” Brown said of Wachusett. “We have a lot of respect for them and what they’ve accomplished so we’ll go and do our best.”
The Super 8 tournament is double-elimination. Mansfield and Franklin will play their second game either Friday or Saturday at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
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