Postseason Primer: Stoughton High Baseball and Softball Looking for Opening Round Upsets in State Tourney

It may sound obvious, but if the Stoughton High baseball or softball team is to advance in the postseason tournament, both squads - which at times have been limited offensively - will need to have the bats heat up. 

The Stoughton High  and  teams will be heading to the South Shore on Friday, June 1 for their opening games of the MIAA postseason tournament, with the baseball team taking on Plymouth North and the softball team facing Marshfield.

The softball game starts at 2:45 p.m., while first pitch for the baseball game is 4:30 p.m.

The Black Knights are the underdogs in both match ups, based on MIAA seedings.

The baseball team last made the postseason tournament in 2010, so some of the upperclassmen on the team have postseason experience. The softball team is postseason bound for the second straight season. 

Fri 6/1,

4:30 p.m.

Fri 6/1,

2:45 p.m.

Stoughton High Baseball

Stoughton finished the season 10-10, but after a 1-5 start, went 9-5 over the last 14 games. The Black Knights are the 11 seed in a 12-team bracket for Division 2 South, drawing Plymouth North (13-7), the sixth seed, in the first round.

Plymouth North has been a force in D2 South, winning the D2 state championship in 2011, advancing to the D2 South Sectional Final game in 2010, losing in the D2 State finals in 2009 and winning the D2 State Championship in 2008.

"We're expecting a good baseball team. Obviously [they're the] defending champs. They've lost some players but have had guys step up," Stoughton coach Mike Armour said. "They got off to a slow start like we did as well [but] they're playing better as of late."

Armour was mum on who would be starting for the Black Knights, but he has a solid three-man starting rotation of sophomore Mike Gallagher, junior Mike Dixon and senior captain Brian Kaplan.

The trio has turned in quality performances throughout the season. Stoughton's strength is its pitching and defense.

"I feel like our pitching and defense will keep us in the game like it has all year," Armour said. 

"A couple of guys' bats are heating up and if we could keep that going and if a couple of guys would be a catalyst and get that started for us, get on the board early, put some pressure on them."

The winner of the Stoughton/Plymouth North game will face #3 Dennis-Yarmouth (16-4) on June 4 in the D2 South quarterfinals. The top four seeds in the Division 2 South Sectional (Dighton Rehoboth, Hingham, Dennis-Yarmouth and Hopkinton) all received first round byes this year.

Stoughton High Softball

Like the baseball team, the Stoughton High softball team will be playing a team coach Janet Sullivan feels has improved as the season has progressed. That being said, Sullivan is pleased with the matchup.

Stoughton finished the season 8-11, qualifying by finishing second in the Hockomock League's Davenport Division. The Black Knights are the final team in a 24-team bracket for Division 1 South, traveling to #9 Marshfield (13-5) for a preliminary round game.

"We're happy with our draw. In an opening game, all you hope for is that you don't play someone in your own league," Sullivan said. Stoughton came close to doing just that as Hockomock League foe Mansfield is the tenth seed in the D1 South bracket.

But Stoughton isn't overlooking Marshfield.

"They're a good team. They have some solid hitters top to bottom," Sullivan said. "Frankly, they probably should be ranked higher than they are. They started off very weak because they lost their starting pitcher to a very serious leg injury, but she's back now. They're now a much stronger team than they were at the beginning of the season."

There is no question as to who will be starting this game for the Black Knights. Sophomore Emily Cramer has been on the mound all season for Stoughton and is a big reason why the team is in the tournament. 

"Our defense overall for the season has been fairly consistent and Emily Cramer has been doing a great job on the mound. She's keeping us in every game," Sullivan said.

"We need to get our offense on track. We need to get ahead in the count. We need to get the bats going early," she said.

Marshfield was the #12 seed last year and was upset in the first round by #21 Weymouth, who went on a Cinderella run to the D1 South semifinals.

The winner of the Stoughton/Marshfield game advances to play #8 seed Somerset Berkley (15-5) on June 3 in a first round matchup.