St. Mary’s earns state title with 3-0 win over Mt. Greylock

WORCESTER – With a 3-0 victory over Mt. Greylock, the St. Mary?s Spartans claimed the Division 3 state championship.
Brendan O?Neill tossed a complete game shutout on Saturday at Fitton Field at Holy Cross College to propel the Spartans to their first state title since winning back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988.
?They went out and they did it,” said Spartans coach Derek Dana. “Outstanding job from start to finish. We came a long way, at one point in the season we were 5-4. The kids redirected themselves, started paying attention to the little things, and then they really got rolling.”
O?Neill was the star for St. Mary?s both on the mound and at the plate in the title game. He drove in the game?s first run in the fourth, after Antonio Felix reached with a one out single. O?Neill helped the Spartans (20-6) add some insurance runs in the sixth, driving in Brady McLaughlin with a single after McLaughlin reached on an error. He later scored on a heads up play as he tagged up on a fly ball to move to third, and scored as the Mounties argued that he didn?t tag up.
The Spartans squandered some good opportunities on the bases early. In the third, Clay Yianacopolus drew a leadoff walk and Donnie Weisse walked with one out. An error loaded the bases with one out, but Yianacopolus was cut down at the plate after a ground ball back to the pitcher, and Weisse was tagged out in a rundown after trying to score on a wild pitch that bounced back quickly to the catcher. But the missed chances turned out to be inconsequential, as O?Neill settled in and shut down the Mt. Greylock (21-4) offense in the late innings.
O?Neill fanned nine batters and allowed just three hits against a Mt. Greylock offense that hadn?t scored less than seven runs in any playoff game leading up to Saturday.
?We heard about (their offense), but we didn?t know much about them…we had no idea,” O?Neill said. “After I started hitting my spots I felt more comfortable and knew it was going to be a good day if we could get a few runs across.”
It was a tough road for the Spartans to reach the top of their division. As the sixth seed in the D3 North division, they had to go through some of the best teams in the area, like top seed Austin Prep in the D3 North finals and Arlington Catholic in the D3 North quarterfinals.
?It?s awesome. It hasn?t really sunk in yet,” O?Neill said of the win. “After we beat Arlington Catholic (in the D3 North quarterfinals), that was a big win and our confidence was sky high.”
After a 10-inning affair against Austin Prep and a last at-bat victory against East Bridgewater in the state semifinals, the 3-0 win in the final was a little less of a nailbiter.
?They came together as a team, we had a lot of tight games, extra-inning games, one-run games, we had to get a couple breaks, but today we got a super clean performance,” said Dana. “It started on the mound with (O?Neill), he?s pitched good games for us all year long, and today was the best of the best.”
The offense did its job against Mt. Greylock, whose starter Ian Brink allowed just five hits, the least the team has allowed in any playoff game. But the Spartans found ways to score runs.
?(Brink) was excellent, and we were able to get the bat on the ball early and got some confidence, even if they weren?t hits,” said Dana. “We ran ourselves into a couple outs. What we?ve talked about all year, it?s a cliche, but with this group in particular, they really needed to stay together. This season they found out the hard way, and they?ve really put that together. Next guy up, next guy up, and that?s what they did today.”
Katie Morrison may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KatieMo61.