ATTLEBORO, Mass. - The Oliver Ames High School Tigers defeated the Blue Bombardiers of Attleboro in a close 2-1 game Monday afternoon.
Leading the Tigers in the game was the top batter in the Hockomock League, and their starting shortstop, David MacKinnon. The senior captain went three for four, improving his batting average to .588 on the season, with three singles and a stolen base. He was also responsible for both of his team’s runs, driving in right fielder Michael Ferrara off of single, on which MacKinnon advanced to second when Attleboro focused the play at home, and scoring off a passed ball two at-bats later.
On the mound for Attleboro Monday was Travis Tanguay, facing all but the last of OA’s batters. During those 6.83 innings of work, the junior gave up seven hits, two runs, two walks, and struck out one, and was handed his first loss of the season. However, his performance overall against the top team in the Davenport wasn’t all too bad, and could’ve ended up with a win had his team been able to pull off another comeback as they had the past few games.
That, however, would not be the case, as the Bombardiers were mostly kept at bay by Tigers starter Chris Servello, who, like Tanguay, gave up seven hits, along with a run, which was unearned, and struck out three, though also hit that same number of Attleboro batters. The Blue Bombardiers did make several chances during the game and put quite a few runners in scoring position, though struggled to seal the deal and bring them home.
The Bombardier bats were led by catcher Ryan Bowen and left fielder Brandon Clark, both going one for three with a pair of singles, and Bowen also reached base on a fielder’s choice in the third. Other notable performances came from shortstop Max Lancaster and DH Adam Woodhead, both going two for four, and both having one of those hits being a double. Right fielder Sean Curran scored the teams only run in the third, having reached base to start the inning on an error by Oliver Ames second baseman Greg Cummings, when he came home off of the bat of second baseman Keith Drucker, who received a fielder’s choice as Woodhead was forced out by the third baseman, Brian Holmes.
As for the boys from Easton, along with MacKinnon, they also had an important contribution from right fielder Ferarra, who went one for three with a single and a run.
Attleboro sent one of its starters, Steven Knox, in to finish off the sixth inning, and only faced one batter, catcher Andrew Mancini, who would ground out to third.
For Oliver Ames closing role, the Tigers moved their start shortstop to the mound, and MacKinnon would shut down all chances for the home team to rally, striking out three of the four batters he would face in the bottom of the seventh, sealing the deal for his club, and guaranteeing the win for Servello.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, the Davenport leaders head home to Easton to host Kelley-Rex leaders Franklin, while Attleboro will journey to Milford to take on the Scarlet Hawks.