NORTH EASTON, Mass. - In his last two starts, Oliver Ames lefty Brendan Welch allowed just two earned runs in 15 innings of work with 24 strikeouts.
He was even better on Saturday, pacing the Tigers in a 12-0 rout over 10th-seeded Hingham in the opening game for both teams in the D2 South Sectional.
Welch allowed just three hits in another complete game effort, striking out seven without issuing a walk and never allowed a Hingham base-runner to advance past second base.
“We just tried to get Brendan to minimize his pitches and he had seven strikeouts and they only had three hits,” Oliver Ames head coach Leo Duggan said. “I thought he did a great job, he was very dominating out there. Then we finally out together some hits.”
As Duggan mentioned, the Tigers got hits — and they got plenty of them. OA had 14 hits collectively with their three, four, five and six hitters combining for 11 of them. The Tigers scored two runs in the second inning, four runs in the third, and then two more in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the first round of the playoffs, games are often much closer as nerves can get the best of players. Duggan credited Oliver Ames’ final regular season game against Stoughton - a game in which the Black Knights needed to win to get into the playoffs - as a good preparation game for Saturday’s game against Hingham. OA rallied to tie the game in the seventh and then rallied again in the eighth to get he win over Stoughton.
“Usually the first tournament game is a nail biter but we had that with Stoughton,” Duggan said. “I think that prepared the kids and I thought they were relaxed and that was probably one of our better hitting performances. And I think we made one mistake defensively but other than that we played pretty well.”
After both teams went quietly in the first, Oliver Ames’ lower half of the batting order got things going in the second. Josh Minuskin reached on a fielder’s choice and a two-out single from John McMillan put runners on first and second with two outs. Larry Kelley, hitting in the nine spot, roped one into left to bring Minuskin home. A base-hit from Mike Ferrara, his 38th hit of the season, brought McMillan home from second to make it 2-0.
“The big thing in the tournament, when you have a good run, is the people in the bottom of the order help too,” Duggan said.
Welch struck out two in the top of the third setting up the Tigers for their biggest inning of the day at the plate. Ryan Adams led off with a single, Chris Romero was hit by a pitch and a deep single to left from Welch loaded the bases. Senior Alex Geba then ripped a shot into deep left center - arguably a home run at another park - that continued to roll to clear the bases for a three run triple. In the next at bat, Nolan Edwards singled Geba home to make it 6-0.
Hingham got its third and final hit of the game in the top of the fourth but Welch was quick to get out of it just one pitch later. In the bottom half, Romero reached on a one-out bunt single and was driven in on a bomb by Welch, who ripped a shot straight away to center that caromed off the tree that is in center at Frothingham, bringing Romero home with a triple. Two batters later, Edwards got his second RBI with a single to bring Welch in to make it 8-0.
In the fifth, Ferrara led off with a walk, stole second, took third on a ground out from Adams and scored on a single from Romero. Romero took second on Welch’s third hit of the game - and second that hit the tree in center - and then scored on a base hit from Geba to make it 10-0.
OA tacked on two more in the sixth. With two outs, pinch hitter freshman Matt Muir was hit by a pitch and advanced to second when Romero picked up his third hit of the season - and fifth time he reached base. Welch hit the tree in center for the third time to plate Muir and Romero to make it 12-0. Welch finished 4/5 with two singles, a double, a triple, three RBI and two runs scored.
“That’s why he’s the MVP of the Hockomock,” Duggan said.
Oliver Ames advances to the quarterfinals of the D2 South Sectional and will travel to #2 Middlebrow on Monday at 4. Middleboro beat Milford 2-1 in the first round.