Plymouth North edges Whitman-Hanson for Patriot League Keenan baseball crown

When Plymouth North needed him most, Connor Vercollone rose to the occasion.

With the Blue Eagles and Whitman-Hanson tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Vercollone ripped an RBI single to right to push Plymouth North in front. In the top of the seventh, Matt Murphy finished off a complete game as Plymouth North captured the Patriot League Keenan crown with a 4-3 win over Whitman-Hanson on Friday evening.

Murphy finished allowing three earned runs on seven hits over 89 pitches to catapult Plymouth North in the winner-take-all league title game.

“Matt Murphy was awesome today,” Plymouth North coach Dwayne Follette said. “We have a great team that’s great to coach and be around and I’m very proud.”

Whitman-Hanson trailed 3-2 entering the top of the fifth but tied the score when Robert Marshall singled and starting pitcher Thomas Marshall helped his own cause with an RBI double down the left field line. Murphy settled down and retired the next four Panther batters, sending the game to the bottom the sixth tied.

That’s when the Blue Eagles (9-1) struck as the Keenan’s leading hitter in Dylan Zemotel began the inning with a triple to right to put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Three pitches later Vercollone hit an infield single to the right side, scoring Zemotel with the game-winning run.

“We have been talking about winning the league since the beginning of the season,” Zemotel said. “To finally get to the point where we’ve accomplished that feels awesome.”

Plymouth North struck first in the bottom of the second on a Murphy sacrifice fly, but the Panthers (8-2) jumped in front in the top of the third on a Jack Allen RBI bunt hit and a Thomas Marshall run-scoring infield hit. The Blue Eagles responded a half-inning later as Nate Viscarello singled, Josh Gomes drilled an RBI double to right, and Zemotel singled up the middle to score Gomes and give Plymouth North a 3-2 advantage after three.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/34sI20O