Offensive Outburst Leads Stoughton High Baseball Past Quincy

“I really like the top of our order,” coach Mike Armour said after the Black Knights beat Quincy 16-10 at home Wednesday afternoon.

And there’s good reason why.

While the whole lineup contributed to the offensive explosion, it was fueled by the first four batters—Pat Jackman, Jovani Pires, Mike Connelly and Zach Gibb—who combined to score 11 runs and drive in eight.

Jackman scored three runs, had a double, three stolen bases and an RBI. Pires had two runs, drew two walks and had a stolen base. Connelly scored four runs, drove in four, walked three times and had a double. Gibb had two triples, drove in three and scored two runs.

With Stoughton winning its home opener, the Black Knights bounce back from a season-opening loss Tuesday at Foxboro and are now 1-1 on the season.

“[The Foxboro] game was frustrating for us in a lot of ways. The season is young. We’re trying to come together. Everyday is a new day and it’s a lot more fun winning than losing,” Armour said.

“[The Quincy game] was a long one—obviously a lot of bats going back and forth—but there was a lot of good things [out there]; a lot of young guys [contributed].”

After Quincy jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Stoughton responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

Jackman singled and Pires walked to start off the frame. A Connelly single drove Jackman in. Gibb singled, driving in Pires; and two batters later Pat Raeke had a single, bringing home both Connelly and Gibb.

“It’s good to come out strong; help the pitcher out. Pitcher gets down one inning, come back [and] put a four-spot in the bottom of the inning is a good confidence booster for us,” Connelly said.

With Stoughton leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the third, the Black Knights scored six times to increase the lead to 11-3, highlighted by a bases-loaded double by Connelly, which drove in all three runners—Alex Kimball, Jamie Connors and Jackman.

Quincy came back with 5 runs in the top of the fourth to cut Stoughton’s leads to 11-8, but the Black Knights answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth.

“We jumped on them early. There were times in the game when we could have just held up our guy but we really stuck together and kept up the run support and the pitchers did an awesome job too,” Jackman said.

One of the keys in this game was Stoughton’s plate discipline and the fact the lineup from top to bottom turned in quality at-bats.

“Coach said we need to cut down on the strikeouts and that’s exactly what we did—we put the ball on the bat,” Gibb said.

Quincy scored twice in the seventh, but Stoughton held on for the six-run victory.

In addition to the top four hitters, Connors scored twice, added two singles and drove in a run. Raeke had the aforementioned two RBI.

Kimball, Kenny Boykin and Gibb combined to pitch for the Black Knights.

Stoughton next hosts Franklin on Tuesday, April 10.