Several members of the Warriors sit stunned in the dug out during Taconic's nine-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning of Monday's Division III championship game. Photo by Mike Flanagan.
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Medfield High School baseball took a two-hour bus ride out to Wahconah Park in Pittsfield on Monday afternoon looking to win the program’s first-ever Division III state championship as the Warriors took on Berkshire powerhouse Taconic.
As the away team, Medfield’s bats got to work early on Taconic starter Anton Lazits. Jack Goodman reached on an infield hit with one out before getting caught in a run-down on a grounder to third by Sam Kornet. Ben Leonard singled to right before Matt Donahue wore a pitch on the arm to load the bases. Dennis Folan drew a six-pitch walk to plate Kornet for the game’s first run. Lazitz then struck out Jack Collins to limit the damage to just a single run.
Thomas Shurtleff (five innings, seven hits, six strikeouts) got the start on the mound for Medfield. Shurtleff struck out the first man he faced, followed by consecutive fly-outs to center to get out of the first inning with the lead intact.
It appeared as if Medfield was destined to add to their lead in the top of the second. Brett Nickerson drew a walk to lead off the inning, followed by a single to center by Drew Baacke. Sam Palmer then scorched a grounder down third base line, but the ball was snagged by Taconic third baseman Brendan Stannard, who stepped on the bag and fired to first for the double play. Lazits then struck out Goodman on four pitches to get out of the inning unscathed.
The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the third, when Taconic finally got to Shurtleff. Stannard tied the game at one with an RBI sacrifice-fly, followed by a three-run home run by Evan Blake to put the Braves ahead 4-1.
Still trailing 4-1 in the top of the fifth, Goodman reached on an infield single, stole second and advanced to third on an overthrow. Leonard struck a single to right to plate Goodman and get Medfield to within two. In the top of the sixth, the Warriors rallied with four runs, thanks to an RBI single by Palmer, a two-RBI single by Goodman and an RBI single by Kornet. Suddenly, Medfield was six outs away from a state championship.
Sam Palmer took the mound in the bottom of the sixth in place of Shurtleff looking for the hold. Given Palmer’s dominance throughout the 2021 regular season and postseason, what followed was simply shocking, especially after striking out the first man he faced. Back-to-back singles, followed by a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Taconic with one out. A fielder’s choice on a grounder up the middle plated a run to make it 6-5, but gave Medfield the all-important second out. An infield hit on a dribbler up the third base line scored the tying run. Palmer then surrendered back-to-back walks as Taconic took an 8-6 lead. Brett Nickerson came on in relief of Palmer, but surrendered a two-RBI double to Blake as Taconic took a 10-6 lead. Taconic went on to score four more runs to make it nine total in the bottom of the sixth to bump their lead to 14-6.
Medfield scored four runs in the top of seventh with their backs against the wall. Jack Collins led off the inning with a single, followed by a walk to Baacke and a single by Palmer. Collins came around to score on a wild pitch. Goodman cracked a two-RBI single to make it 14-9, followed by an RBI sacrifice fly by Leonard to score Palmer. With two outs, Ryan Murray was robbed on a blooper to left on a diving catch by Blake as Taconic held on for the 14-10 victory to win the Division III state championship.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0
