By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Raiders rode their late-season success to a 7-3 home win in the preliminary round of the playoffs against Groton-Dunstable.
Dover-Sherborn struck early as junior Jackson Shusda drove in sophomore Matthew Bowden in the first inning on a hit that bounced off the glove of a diving second baseman and into the outfield. Shusda went on to steal second base, advancing to third base on an errant throw from the catcher trying to catch him stealing.
Shusda, who also got the start at pitcher, suffered an injury to his throwing hand on the slide into third base but was able to remain in the game.
“I immediately asked him if he could squeeze it, and he was still strong and he battled through [the injury],” head coach Steve Ryan said. “I think he's going to feel that tomorrow, but his adrenaline was going, and he was great today.”
On the mound, the junior pitched a complete game and only faced big threats in the third and fifth innings. With the 1-0 lead he gave himself, Shusda let up a single and a walk to push a runner into scoring position. Back-to-back singles allowed two runs to score and gave Groton-Dunstable the lead.
After getting out of the inning without too much damage, the Raiders answered with great at-bats immediately in the bottom of the third. Captain Will Forman, Jackson Shusda and freshman Payton Shusda all walked without seeing a strike to load the bases with no outs.
“I feel for their pitcher when he couldn't find a plate for 14 straight pitches,” Ryan said. “But our guys were disciplined at the plate and we just took the advantage of that opportunity.”
Forman went on to score on a passed ball to tie the game up at 2-2, but the Raiders were not done there.
Captain Theo Allan hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score another run, but while the outfielder threw the ball in to try to get the runner out at home, the younger Shusda tagged from second to third base. The throw over from home to try to get Shusda out at third was airmailed, allowing him to score with ease. In a matter of seconds, Dover-Sherborn found itself with a 4-2 lead.
Still in the bottom of the third inning, senior Thomas Wyatt walked and eventually made his way to third base. Senior John Clark brought him home on a sacrifice fly to give the Raiders a 5-2 lead.
After a one-two-three fourth inning from Shusda, the Raiders produced more on offense. Bowen got on base via a walk and Will Forman drove him home all the way from first base on a deep shot to left-center field for a double. After advancing to third base on a ground ball, Payton Shusda’s RBI-double allowed Forman to score, making it a 7-2 game.
Following the win the Raiders hit the road to face Sandwich, but were unable to prevail, ending their season with an 8-0 loss.
