SHARON, Mass. -- Behind another strong outing from senior captain Jake Fishman and more clutch hits offensively, the Sharon High baseball team held off Mansfield, 4-3, on Monday.
“Good to start the week off with a win,” said senior second baseman Eric Lesser, who recorded two hits. “Tough game, but in the end, we prevailed. Another good performance from Jake Fishman.”
Fishman, who tossed a complete game and went 3-4 at the plate, said, “I thought it was a great game. We did well offensively and defensively. They really backed me up today.”
Sharon wasted no time in the top of the first inning. Senior captain Nathan Pedersen knocked home senior captain Colin Gray for the game’s first run, boosting his Hockomock League-high RBI total to 11. Fishman then came in to score on a wild pitch.
Mansfield answered back with one run in the bottom of the first, on an Adam Blake RBI single, and added two more in the second, on a 2-run double by Steve Nagle, putting the Hornets in front.
“They were definitely a good team,” Fishman said of the Hornets. “They hit the ball hard. We made a couple of great plays in the field that really saved us.”
Lesser says that the Eagles had confidence in Fishman to find his groove on the hill. “That’s the good thing about him. You know that if he gets hit a little bit in the beginning, he’s still going to settle in there, pitch a good game, and we’ll get six, seven innings out of him,” he said.
From the third inning onward, Fishman did not allow another run. The southpaw struck out ten more batters on the afternoon, raising his Hockomock-leading total to an astronomical 62.
“I was able to settle in. I was more relaxed going out there, and just trying to get my curveball over the plate,” Fishman said.
Down 3-2, Fishman helped his own cause leading off the top of the third by singling and swiping both second and third base. With two down, junior third baseman Frank Sullivan rocketed a double into left field, scoring Fishman to tie the game.
“That’s been our motto this year – timely hitting,” said Lesser. “Not the best hitting team, but as long as we can get hits with runners in scoring position, we’re going to be able to score some runs. With good pitching and defense, we should have a chance to win the game.”
Sharon’s go-ahead run came in the fifth inning. Senior captain Brad Kaufman reached on an infield hit, took second on an error, and stole third. Fishman’s hard ground ball between third and short brought Kaufman home, providing the Eagles a 4-3 edge.
“Definitely, it was good offense today,” Fishman said. “Everyone was hitting well. And we were hitting the ball far, too.”
In the seventh inning, Fishman erased the potential tying Mansfield run from first base with a pickoff. A strikeout ended the game and gave Sharon a four-game winning streak.
The Eagles (8-3, 7-3) next host North Attleboro on Wednesday at Eagle Ballpark. Mansfield (4-6, 4-4) travels to Stoughton on Wednesday.
“I’m looking forward to continuing the rest of the week with a couple of more wins,” said Lesser. “Just take it one game at a time – one win at a time – and get closer to the tournament and closer to getting our regular-season goal, which is to be the top seed [in Division II South].”