MANSFIELD, Mass. - Mansfield entered Friday afternoon's game needing a win to qualify for the MIAA tournament and keep their season alive and after going up 1-0 in the first inning, things were off to a strong start.
But after the top of the fourth inning, Oliver Ames took a 4-1 lead and the Hornets' backs were against the wall. Mansfield didn't give up though, getting one back in the bottom half of the inning and then rallying for three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 5-4 lead and held on for their 10th win of the season to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
"They just seemed confident today," Mansfield head coach Tim Graham said of his squad. "Usually we get down three and it's like 'Oh shoot, we're done.' But today it was like 'We've been here before.' This senior class, they weren't ready for it to end and none of us were ready for it to end."
Senior lefty Jeff Perillo tossed his fifth complete game of the year, breaking the record for innings pitched at Mansfield and picked up his fourth win of the season to break the all-time win record at Mansfield.
"My goal was to pitch my heart out," Perillo said. "I wanted to throw strikes, change speeds and hit my spots. I know I have a good defense behind me so I knew if I threw strikes, the defense behind me would make plays."
Perillo allowed just two hits through the first three innings before OA had four hits and four runs in the fourth inning. After that, Perillo faced just one more than the minimum amount of batters through the last three innings, allowing just one hit.
"I don't even know if I have enough words for that kid," Graham said of Perillo. "He's 5'6'' but he has guts for days and he just pitched Monday. He's as good of a competitor as I've been around, that's probably the best way to say it."
Mansfield didn't waste much time for their offense to start. Cam Nagle led off the game with a walk and promptly took second base on a steal. Nagle advanced on a pop out from Perillo and then Mike Arnold smashed a double into right field to plate Nagle for a 1-0 lead.
Both Perillo and OA starter Brad Capece made quick work of the second and third innings, each allowing just one base runner through the two innings. It was the fourth inning when Oliver Ames' offense jumped into gear.
Chris Romero and Brendan Welch led of with back-to-back singles and on the second pitch he saw, catcher David Romero mashed a shot into deep left center field to core both Chris Romero and Brendan Welch while David advanced to third on the throw. With a full count, Joe Walsh ripped a double into left field to score Romero from third. Walsh tagged up on a pop up from Adam Burr advanced to third before scoring on a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Nolan Edwards to make it 4-1.
It looked as though Oliver Ames had the momentum but Mansfield's Zac Courier was able to grab part of it back with a vital hit in the bottom of the fourth inning. On the second pitch he saw, the outfielder took hold of one and hit it over the fence in left field for a solo home run to make it 4-2. Although that was Mansfield's lone run of the inning, it was able to keep some of the momentum.
OA threatened with a man on second with one out in the fifth inning, but a heads up play by shortstop Michael Boen forced an out at third and Perillo was out of the inning three pitches later.
After a strikeout to start the inning, Nagle and Perillo strung together back to back singles. Mike Arnold took a watch to load the bases and then Courier hit a sharp grounded towards third base, but the ball got away and Nagle came home safely and the bases stayed juiced for the Hornets. Catcher Will Kelleher was patient at the plate, taking a five pitch walk to bring home Perillo and tied the game 4-4.
It was then Boen, who had made a heads up play in the top half of the inning, that hit a high fly ball to center that was caught, but Arnold tagged up and came home on the sacrifice fly for a 5-4 lead.
"There was a different feeling on the bench today so I knew everyone was going to play their best and put the bat on the ball and make things happen," Perillo said.
Oliver Ames' offense was quiet for rest of the game, going down in order in both the sixth and the seventh inning.
"Sometimes we have a tendency to settle for one good inning, four runs and we thought that was it and we thought we could just play defense and it doesn't always work out," said OA head coach Leo Duggan.
But there were positives for Duggan too, who's team waited over a week last season between their final regular season game and their first playoff game.
"This is much better than practice," Duggan said. Oliver Ames will travel to New Bedford on Saturday morning for their regular season finale. "Last year i think we had eight days off before the tournament and now with today and tomorrow, at least we'll be tournament ready because both games will be like tournament games so that should prepare us. I saw a lot of good things out there, we're still a pretty good team, you know."
Mansfield qualifies for the tournament at 10-10, winning four of their last six games and their last two to qualify. Oliver Ames drops to 15-4 and will have a quick turnaround to play at New Bedford on Saturday morning, a team they beat 2-1 in mid-April.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.