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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
If one thing is true about the MIAA State Baseball Tournament, it’s that any team has the chance to make some noise and make a long run. All you have to do is get in. On Sunday, the No. 13 seed Wellesley Raiders (11-9) continued their incredible playoff run throughout these last several weeks, taking down No. 3 Bridgewater-Raynham 3-1 in the South Sectional Championship game at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton to win their first sectional title since 2005.
The Raiders won their way to Brockton via No. 4 Mansfield (3-2) in round one, No. 5 Barnstable (5-1) in the quarterfinals, and No. 8 Durfee (7-6 in nine innings) in the South semifinals. Wellesley entered Sunday’s game looking to not only take home the South Sectional title, but also put a stop to Bridgewater-Raynham’s reign of terror over the Bay State Conference this spring, as the Trojans (13-7) entered Sunday having defeated Framingham (5-0) in the semifinals and Walpole (4-2) in the quarterfinals.
Wellesley was able to load the bases in the top of the first with two outs, but a groundout to second got BR out of the jam. Wellesley starter Henry Weycker wiggled his way out of a jam in the bottom of the first after BR put runners on the corners with two outs, as the Raider ace snagged a line drive back to the mound for the final out of the inning, saving a run and allowing the game to enter the second still scoreless.
In the bottom of the second, the Raiders opted to turn to reliever Michael Kenney, and simply put, Kenney was able to shut down the Trojan bats for the better part of four innings (three hits, one walk, one strikeout).
With two outs in the top of the third and Henry Weycker on second, senior captain Jack Waisel smacked a hard ground ball to third base that was bobbled by the BR third baseman and fired wide of first down the right field line. Weycker came all the way around to score from second to give Wellesley a 1-0 lead.
The Trojans put runners at first and second with one out in the home half of the third, but Kenney again worked his magic and recorded the final two outs of the inning via a fly to right and a groundout to second, preserving the 1-0 Raider lead heading into the fourth.
Wellesley was unable to add on to their lead in the top of the fourth, but Kenney continued his excellence on the mound in the bottom of both the fourth and fifth innings to get the Raiders to the sixth still up a run. With a runner on first and nobody out in the bottom of the sixth, the Raiders turned to freshman reliever Max Zajec to try and get them out of the jam. Unfortunately, Bridgewater-Raynham’s Mike DiBari was able to even up the game at one with a double into the gap to plate the runner from first. DiBari later advanced to third on a single to right, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Sophomore Teddy Goss then came on in relief and hit the clutch button, recording the final three outs via a pop out, strikeout, and groundout to second to get Wellesley out of the jam and escape any further damage.
Sophomore pinch hitter Jason Maiona cracked a single to right with one out in the top of the seventh and took second base on a passed ball. Junior John Ciolfi kept his hot streak at the plate throughout these 2017 playoffs alive with a rope into the left-center field gap to plate Maiona and give the Raiders back the lead at 2-1. Ciolfi would later advance to third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield, and senior Brendan Dolan got him home with a triple to the fence out in centerfield, giving the Raiders some much-needed insurance at 3-1.
Goss closed the door in the bottom of the seventh, getting a fly out to Dolan in right to end it. At the time of print, this incredible run to the South title advances Wellesley to play North Sectional champ Lowell on Tuesday night in Lynn.
