MANCHESTER – It was the situation many ballplayers spend their childhood fantasizing about: bases loaded, two outs, full count, down by one and a championship on the line.
Riley Elliott was confronted with that pressure-packed moment and turned it into the memory of a lifetime.
The Bow junior flared a line drive to right field for a two-RBI single and the top-seeded Falcons walked off with a 5-4 triumph over No. 2 Hollis Brookline in the Division II baseball championship on Monday at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.
“It’s the most amazing feeling of my life,” Elliott said after securing Bow’s first baseball title since 2003. “I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life. It’s just amazing.”
It was an amazing conclusion to an amazing tournament run.
After earning the No. 1 seed, the Falcons (18-2) were tested every step of the postseason. Each of Bow’s three victories – one-run wins over Coe-Brown, St. Thomas and Hollis Brookline – needed a rally and was punctuated with a walk-off celebration.
“We knew if we had an out left, we had a chance,” Bow coach Ben Forbes said. “We did it all three games of the tournament this year. That was exactly our style: bend, don’t break.”
For senior star Connor Blandini, who was recently named Division II Player of the Year, it was a championship trip that came full-circle. He knows what it’s like to be on the other side, as Bow lost to Monadnock, 3-2, in the D-III final in 2016.
“It means everything,” Blandini said. “I was here freshman year and I kind of took it for granted a little bit. I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re coming back next year. We have a good team.’ And that obviously wasn’t the case.
“It’s just an awesome experience to come back here my senior year,” he added. “All the guys wanted it so bad. I’ve been talking to them and telling them, ‘You don’t get these opportunities every day to come out here and play in front of everyone. You have to cherish these moments while you can.’ ”
Blandini led by example, as well, going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a run scored.
The senior shortstop provided the initial spark for Bow with a one-out single in the third off Cavs starter Henri Boudreau. He stole second, moved to third on a grounder and scored when Matt Hamilton reached on an error to give the Falcons a 1-0 edge.
That lead was short-lived, though, as Hollis Brookline (16-3) wasted no time showing its mettle. Max Mello led off the fourth with a single to center field and Joe Messina followed with an RBI double down the right-field line. Messina eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nik Direnzo to take a 2-1 lead going to the bottom of the fourth.
After a senior jolted the Falcons in the third inning, freshman Matt Lamy – who went 2-for-2 at the plate and earned the win on the mound – ignited a rally in the fourth. Lamy and Elliott started the frame with back-to-back singles before Kyle Martin bunted them into scoring position. Lamy came in to score on a balk, but Blandini made sure the call was inconsequential by belting an RBI triple into the right-center gap, allowing the Falcons to reclaim a 3-2 advantage.
Elliott tossed the first four innings for Bow and allowed two runs on three hits, but was replaced in the fifth by Ben Harris. He struck out the first batter he faced, but the Cavs strung together a walk and three hits – including back-to-back RBI singles from Grant Snyder and Mello – to take back the lead.
With the game starting to slip away, Forbes pulled Harris in favor of Lamy.
The freshman walked Messina to load the bases, but struck out the cleanup batter Kyle Hsu and induced a pop up to first base from Direnzo to avoid further damage and keep the deficit at 4-3.
“My approach was to pitch to contact and get out of the inning with no runs, and get us back into the dugout with a chance to win it,” Lamy said.
His coach was appreciative of the effort.
“It’s huge,” Forbes said. “I think we go into that bottom half of the seventh, down two or three, it’s going to be tough to come back against that team. To throw a freshman on the mound and have him fight out of that jam – huge.
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” the coach added. “We haven’t had a complete game from a pitcher since maybe the second week of May. We piece it together. Yeah, we’re going to give up some runs, but when it comes down to it, we just do our best to be clutch.”
After a silent sixth inning – it was the only frame Bow was retired in order – the Falcons made some noise in the seventh with their season on the line.
Hamilton began the championship-winning rally with a one-out single and Harris atoned for his shaky outing on the mound with a booming double to the warning track in left field, bringing the Bow contingent of fans dressed in all white to their feet.
Hollis Brookline sophomore reliever Brandon Hsu didn’t back down, though, and got Steven Guerrette to strike out looking to bring Lamy to the plate with two outs and runners at second and third. But the Cavs opted to intentionally walk Lamy, who was not retired on the day.
“I wanted to get a base hit out there and score the two, but Riley did it and we made them pay for it,” Lamy said. “It was great.”
That set the stage for Elliott, who worked the count full after laying off a 2-2 breaking ball.
“I was obviously really nervous,” Elliott said. “I just needed to get the ball in play and get a run in, and that’s what happened. … I just knew I had to get that job done. It was the most important time.”
Elliott said he was expecting the fastball high and outside, and he went with the pitch to right field, scoring pinch-runners Brian Carter and Evan Provost to start a celebration Bow baseball fans won’t forget anytime soon.
“I just knew that my guys were going to pick us up,” said Blandini, who had popped out to end the sixth.
Blandini’s next step is to Southern New Hampshire University, where he’ll team up with his brother, Tom.
Elliott will be a senior next year and he’s already thinking about an encore.
“I’m just so proud of my teammates,” Elliott said, “and I can’t wait to play again next year.”
(Jason Orfao can be reached at jorfao@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JasonOrfao)