It’s taken come-from-behind victories in two of its three postseason games to reach this point, now the Hopkinton baseball team is just hoping it has enough magic left in the tank to pull off one last upset.
After senior Ben McManus lifted the sixth-seeded Hawks to their first state title appearance since 2012 with both game-tying and game-winning home runs in Hopkinton’s 7-5 semifinal win over No. 2 Littleton, the only team standing between the Hawks and the perfect ending to their Cinderella story is No. 5 Pittsfield.
Both programs shocked Division IV by knocking out the top two seeds during Wednesday’s semifinal round. And on Saturday at 1 p.m., the Hawks (14-5) and Panthers (16-4) will put it all on the line for the state title at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester.
Led by a gem on the mound from freshman Devin Bedell, Pittsfield took down Goliath in the semifinals, defeating top-seeded and unbeaten Sunapee, 2-1.
The Lakers had been to the finals in four of the last five seasons – and three straight – but Bedell put a stop to that with a complete-game effort in a performance Pittsfield Coach Rob Stockman repeatedly called “poised” and “mature” following Wednesday’s contest.
The Panthers had little trouble during their 11-1 win over No. 12 Moultonborough in the first round, and followed that up with consecutive one-run victories over No. 4 Newmarket and No. 1 Sunapee in their return to the finals.
Pittsfield’s has had recent success in the tournament and claimed the D-IV title in 2013 with a 5-1 win over Littleton. The Panthers also own two regular-season wins over the Hawks – 3-2 on May 4 and 6-1 on May 19.
But Hopkinton is a team coming together at the right time and is showing a knack for the dramatics. During the Hawks’ win over Littleton on Wednesday, McManus told the Monitor, “I know we play our best baseball with our backs against the wall.”
That was certainly true when Hopkinton rallied to beat No. 11 Wilton-Lyndeborough in the first round with three runs in the final frame. And became more evident when McManus saved the Hawks’ season by homering in the seventh inning of the semifinals to tie the game before connecting again in the ninth to win it.
The one thing for certain about this matchup between the top two seeds: Division III Player of the Year Cole Contigiani will not be on the mound for Belmont.
When the second-seeded Raiders (17-2) square off with No. 1 Campbell (18-0) on Saturday morning in the first of two state championship games at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, Contigiani will be manning the hot corner.
After throwing 100-plus pitches in Belmont’s gutsy 2-1 win over No. 3 Conant in the semifinals on Thursday, the undefeated Cougars, who have won 59 of their last 61 games, will catch a break – sort of.
While Contigiani has allowed just a single run through 13 innings pitched this postseason and has been the workhouse for the Raiders all season, the team is much deeper than just one pitcher.
Senior Corey Derosier or sophomore Griffin Embree are likely to take the mound for Coach Matt LeBlanc’s squad, and both have been instrumental during Belmont’s 17-game winning streak – one where the team has yet to surrender more than three runs and has shutout opponents six times.
Led by an experienced group of nine seniors, Belmont makes its return to the finals after an 11-year absence. The Raiders last played this late into the season in 2005 when they lost in the championship to Somersworth, 5-3.
Belmont’s recent tear is an impressive one, but the team isn’t the only one with a streak on the line. Campbell enters having won 18 straight, including a hard-fought, 3-2 victory in 11 innings over No. 5 Raymond in the semifinals.
The Cougars have been crowned the D-III champs in two of the past three seasons, and present Belmont with its biggest challenge to date in the first meeting of the year between the two sides.
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)