Sports
Stoughton High Baseball Gets Long-Awaited Win Over Oliver Ames; Knights on Brink of Playoff Berth
The Stoughton High baseball team beat Oliver Ames 6-2 Monday at home, the first win over OA for Stoughton's senior class, and first win over the Tigers in coach Mike Armour's six years leading the team.
Postgame video interviews with Will McGrath, Mike Connelly, Pat Jackman, Pat Raeke, Mike Gallagher and Sam Werman are posted in the media gallery of this article.
***
This win was for the seniors.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Stoughton High baseball team defeated Oliver Ames, 6-2, Monday afternoon for the first time in this batch of Stoughton senior's baseball careers.
The win moves Stoughton (9-6) just one win away from a MIAA State Tournament berth with five games remaining on the schedule. Oliver Ames fell to 11-4.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Senior captain Pat Jackman led the offense going 3 for 4 with a double, while juniors Mike Gallagher and Pat Raeke each went 2 for 3 with a triple.
Junior Sam Werman took the mound for Stoughton, opposed by sophomore Brendan Welch of Oliver Ames. Werman and Gallagher (two innings in relief) combined to shut the Tigers down.
Oliver Ames struck first in the top of the second when senior Brad Fleming singled to right, then moved to second on a fielder's choice. An Alex Geba single to center scored Fleming giving Oliver Ames the early lead, 1-0.
Stoughton came right back in the bottom of the second when Gallagher led off the inning with a base hit up the middle. A Raeke triple to right scored Gallagher tying the game at one.
In the bottom of the third, Stoughton added two runs to increase the lead to 3-1.
A Jackman double to center, followed by Jackman moving to third on a fielder's choice allowed senior captain Will McGrath to bunt Jackman in, giving Stoughton the 2-1 lead. Senior captain Mike Connelly then drew a walk and later scored when Gallagher tripled him in to give Stoughton a 3-1 lead.
Stoughton added an insurance run in the top of the fifth courtesy of a Jovani Pires double which scored Jackman, who singled to right in the previous at bat.
Oliver Ames got a run back in the top of the sixth thanks to an Andrew Mancini triple, and a sacrifice fly by Fleming to cut the lead to 4-2.
But Stoughton scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth putting the game in the bag for the Knights. Back-to-back-to-back singles by Raeke, junior Kaleb Ballou, and a bunt by senior Mike Romaine, along with two passed balls gave Stoughton a 6-2 lead after six, which was the final margin of victory.
Welch pitched 5 1/3 innings for Oliver Ames allowing the six Stoughton runs.
Werman tossed 5+ innings for Stoughton, followed by 2 innings of shutout relief by Gallagher.
Head coach Mike Armour, who had never previously beat Oliver Ames in his six seasons as varsity skipper, thought, although the offense still had their struggles in key situations throughout the game, they were able to pick it up for the most part in the win.
"Pat [Jackman] got it going, getting three hits. [Pat] Raeke has started to get it going swinging the stick well today. Today we were able to execute bunts, we got stuff down, it was good," Armour said. "These kids came ready to play today. It means a lot to them, and it means a lot to us [the coaching staff]. I'm very proud of these guys."
Armour then talked about Werman stepping up, pitching in this big game and getting the job done for the Knights.
"I think Sam [Werman] is going to be a great pitcher for us. He is starting to find his own," he said. "Just to see all these guys execute today was something special."
The Knights take the field Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Milford with a chance to clinch a tournament berth. Stoughton edged Milford 1-0 in a pitcher's duel at home, earlier this season.
