CONTOOCOOK – When Hopkinton baseball skipper Dave Chase first got into coaching, he received some wise words from his father.
“He said, ‘I’ll give you one piece of advice as a high school coach: the more you make the other team throw the ball, the better you’re going to be,’ and that’s always resonated with me,” Chase said. “I’ve never really had a team that just gets up there and mashes so we try and take advantage with the outs by moving guys around and trying to get runs.”
Using that formula on Thursday mixed with a lights-out start from Sam Crawford, No. 4 Hopkinton advanced out of the first round of the Division III tournament with a well-rounded 6-2 victory over No. 13 Winnisquam to open the postseason.
The victory sends the Hawks (14-4) into Saturday’s quarterfinals where they will host No. 12 Campbell at 4 p.m.
“Teams have to be ready whenever they play Hopkinton. Be ready for everything and anything,” Winnisquam coach Fred Caruso said after finishing the year 6-11. “Dave’s a smart guy and he plays to the ability of his team. They’re one of the most athletic teams we’ve seen so they’ll be tough going forward.”
The Hawks put their aggressive style of play on display early, plating two runs in the second inning off Winnisquam starter Philip Nichols.
Kevin Newton-Delgado got the inning started with a single to right field, stole second and came around to score on Mike Baer’s RBI single. Baer then collected a steal of his own to get into scoring position, moved to third on Sam Rawson’s single and scored when Peyton Marshall dropped down a perfect squeeze bunt on a 3-1 pitch.
Hopkinton’s offense stayed hot in the fourth as Baer again came through with an RBI single, stole second and reached third on Rawson’s sacrifice bunt. Marshall then split the outfielders with a double to right center field to make it 4-0 before Caleb Yianakopolos blasted a pitch over the fence in left for a two-run home run.
“We’ve been yelling at him his whole career to hit the ball on the ground because he’s so fast and he just wants to hit the ball over the fence,” Chase said. “Maybe it was kind of karma that he gets one in the air and it goes out.”
Meanwhile, Winnisquam batters were having a tough time getting a read on Crawford in the early stages. With a steady mix of pitches, Crawford was perfect through four frames, retiring the first 12 batters he faced as Hopkinton built its lead.
“That kid was awesome,” Caruso said of Crawford. “He was perfect through four, and God, his changeup was the best we’ve seen all year. But we battled. It was 6-0 and we could have folded the tent but we hung in there, started swinging the bats a little better and got a couple of runs on the board to give us a little bit of life.”
The Bears got their first run off Crawford in the fifth after Nichols singled to lead off the frame and scored on an error. Chaz Hibbert then plated the second run with an RBI single to pull Winnisquam within four runs at 6-2.
But that’s all the Bears would get.
Despite Nichols shutting down Hopkinton over the final three innings, Hopkinton’s pitching was just as good down the stretch. Chase lifted Crawford (49 pitches) for Larsen Burack to start the sixth and Burack stayed out of trouble to close Winnisquam out.
The only focus now for the Hawks is keeping this special season alive.
“It’s been kind of a magical season so to speak because I don’t think anybody really thought we’d be 13-4 and the fourth seed, especially after coming back from Division IV,” Chase said. “We just didn’t know what to expect but these guys like baseball, they like each other and they work hard.”
Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
D-III Baseball Tournament
No. 7 Bishop Brady 14,
No. 10 Conant 4, 5 innings
Key players: Bishop Brady – Connor Treybig (5 IP, 4 ER, 4 K; hit, 3 RBI, 2 runs), Logan Hannigan (2 hits, 2 runs), Ismael Rivera (hit, 3 RBI), Pat Brust (hit, 2 RBI, 3 runs), Kevin Anderson (hit, 2 RBI)
Highlights: The Giants exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth and four in the fifth to end the game in five innings via the mercy rule. The Orioles led by three runs at the top of the third, but Brady drew three walks with the bases loaded to tie the game.
Coach’s quote: “We had great plate discipline today and took advantage of some wildness by the Conant starter. When he did make a mistake in the zone, we made him pay. Connor didn’t have his best stuff today but he hung in there tough until the bats came alive. It was a good team win for us.” – Bishop Brady’s Skip Foy
Records: Bishop Brady11-6; Conant 9-8
No. 3 John Stark 11, No. 14 Pembroke 3
Key players: John Stark – Brett Patnode (win, 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5 K; 2-for-4, double, RBI, 2 runs), Aaron Robertson (3-for-4, 4 RBI), Jake Cole (2-for-4, RBI), Nathan Innerfield (2-for-4, double, 2 RBI, 3 runs, stolen base), Carter Pike (2-for-2, 3 runs, 2 walks, stolen base); Pembroke – Chris Daniels (2 hits), Cam Nixon (2 hits), Nate Cassidy (2 hits), Hayden Drew (hit), Cove Boucher (hit), Ryan Ardine (hit)
Highlights: The Generals scored multiple runs in the first, second, third and fifth innings, and were able to use four pitchers to close out a balanced first-round victory.
Coach’s quote: “We got that complete team effort game I was looking for us to get today. We had nine kids with at least one hit and used four pitchers, with none of them throwing more than 41 pitches. We will be at full strength and ready to go on Saturday (in the quarterfinals against Lebanon).” – John Stark’s Dennis Pelletier
Records: John Stark 15-2; Pembroke 7-10
No. 7 Kennett 3,
No. 10 Merrimack Valley 2
Key players: MV – Cal Chevarie (6 IP, 2 ER; 2-for-3, 2 RBI), Josh Planchet (1-for-3, run)
Highlights: Chevarie’s two-run single in the fifth inning tied the game at 2-2 and Caleb Heath gunned down a runner at home plate to keep the score tied, but Kennett scored the winning run on a base hit to left field, eliminating MV from the playoffs.
Coach’s quote: “It was fun watching the boys compete. I am proud of the way we played.” – MV’s Sean Wheeler
Records: Kennett 13-6; MV 9-8
No. 8 Coe Brown 6, No. 9 Oyster River 5
Key players: Coe Brown – Hunter DeCota (win, 5⅓ IP; HR), Jacob Rich (2-for-3), Hayden Knight (HR), Thomas Trumble (save)
Highlights: Knight had a home run in the second inning and DeCota belted another in the fourth as the Bears knocked off rival Bobcats for the second time this season. Coe-Brown will travel to top-seeded Bow on Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup.
Coach’s quote: “Big playoff win for Coe-Brown facing its rival Oyster River. Both teams played very hard, we were just able to make a couple more plays and a couple big hits.” – Coe-Brown’s Seth Wentworth
Records: Coe-Brown 11-6; Oyster River 10-7