Oliver Ames Edges Stoughton High Baseball in Pitchers' Duel

In a game where hits were hard to come by—both teams combined for just five—Oliver Ames found a way to win without getting one, scoring on a hit batsman in the top of the seventh inning, beating Stoughton 2-1 Thursday afternoon on the road.

Tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh, Stoughton reliever Pat Jackman retired the first two batters of the inning on groundouts, but hit Jared Bloom on a full count to keep the inning alive for the Tigers.

Jim Sullivan then hit a bleeder and reached on an error by second baseman Will McGrath, putting runners on second and third with two outs. Mike McMillan then walked to load the bases. Liam Noonan whiffed twice to fall behind 0-2, but then was hit in the back to bring home the go-ahead run.

Stoughton got out of the jam, getting Kyle McGillvery to ground out, but unlike the , they were unable to stir up any late-inning magic, and went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

Stoughton falls to 1-3, while Oliver Ames improves to 3-0.

“[It’s] not the way you want to go down, but I’m proud of the kids,” Stoughton coach Mike Armour said. “They fought hard. It’s just a game we got to have and just didn’t get it done.”

“That was ugly,” Oliver Ames coach Leo Duggan said of the way his team won. “[But,] it still counts as a win, I guess.”

Duggan said once the Tigers scored the go-ahead run, he knew Oliver Ames was in good shape.

“I thought once we got that run, we knew we were going to win because [pitcher] Ryan [O’Shea] was just going to shut them down,” he said.

Both offenses were kept off-balance throughout the game—a credit to the respective efforts from both starting pitchers.

Stoughton senior Adam Kenney went 5-plus innings, allowing just one run on two hits. He struck out four and walked three. Armour was impressed with the effectiveness of his changeup and curveball. Jackman came in to relieve Kenney in the sixth and induced a 6-4-3 double play on his first pitch (Mike Gallagher to McGrath to Sean O’Malley).

Oliver Ames junior Ryan O’Shea pitched a complete game, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out seven and walked three.

“Ryan is one of the best pitchers in the Hockomock League,” Duggan said. “Ryan was in command.”

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Black Knights had their best opportunity to take a lead when McGrath and Mike Connelly walked on back to back at-bats, putting runners on first and second with just one out. But, O’Shea got O’Malley to ground into an inning-ending double play, ending the Stoughton threat.

Stoughton scored first to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but that was the only run they would score, negating Kenney’s gem.

Jackman led off the bottom of the first with a single and McGrath reached on an error by John Foran. With two on and no outs, O’Shea then induced a double play, but Jackman advanced to third. With O’Malley down in the count 1-2 with two outs, Jackman scored on a passed ball.

Oliver Ames tied the game 1-1 in the top of the third. Sullivan walked and then stole second. McMillan grounded out, with Sullivan advancing to third. Sullivan came around to score when Noonan singled to center field.

In three games this season, the Tigers have allowed only two runs, both unearned.

In three losses this season, Stoughton has scored a combined four runs. Armour said the “bats will get better” and that the team is not hitting the ball they way he thinks they are capable. He said it’s a “growing process.”

“We have to get the bats going,” Armour said. “We scored one run. You can analyze a lot, but you’re not going to win a lot of games scoring one run. But a tribute to our pitching, [Oliver Ames is] a good ball club and we were right there.  We’re looking forward to getting another shot at them when we go to their place.”

Oliver Ames next hosts Franklin, Tuesday at noon. Stoughton looks to bounce back against Mansfield, Tuesday at home. First pitch is at noon.