LOWELL — Make room for another state championship banner on Tremont Street.
Behind seven masterful innings from ace Bobby Alcock and ounces of timely hitting in the form of two RBI singles, the St. Mary’s baseball team blanked Hopkinton, 2-0, in the Division 2 state final at Alumni Field.
“I’m extremely proud,” Spartans coach Derek Dana said. “The amount of time and effort the coaches have put in was outstanding. When you get there, you want to finish the job. These kids finished the job.”
St. Mary’s last won the state championship in 2015, back when the Spartans were in Division 3. They opted up to Division 2 in 2018.
Alcock struck out eight and allowed just one hit. He finished the postseason with 22 shutout innings over three starts.
“Bobby just pounded the strike zone,” said Dana, who won two Division 3 state titles at St. Mary’s as a player (1987, 1988) and coached the Spartans’ 2015 team. “When we needed to make a play behind him, we made the play behind him.”
Colin Reddy and Kory Ouellette each scored a run on RBI singles from Jared Coppola and Lee Pacheco.
St. Mary’s offense made things tough on itself. The Spartans ran themselves out of four promising innings with mistakes on the basepaths. They were picked off three times and thrown out on two steal attempts.
Luckily, their defense returned the favor. Hopkinton ran into four outs of its own.
“Neither team ran the bases well and it could’ve cost either of us the win,” Dana said. “Our defense was outstanding. When we needed to make a play, we made a play. We capitalized, we scored first and then we tacked one on. That was key.”
Alcock sent the Hillers down 1-2-3 in a quick top of the first. Reddy walked to lead the bottom of the first but was picked off at first. Coppola hit a 2-out single to no avail.
The next few innings were highlighted by base running miscues. St. Mary’s kept Hopkinton scoreless by ending the top of the second on a pickoff and throwing out a runner attempting to steal in the top of the third. Pacheco singled to start the bottom of the second but was thrown out stealing second base after a strikeout and a fly out.
Richie Pagliuca walked with one out in the bottom of the third and advanced to third base on an errant pick off attempt. St. Mary’s opted for a suicide squeeze and it backfired, with Pagliuca picked off at third and Reddy striking out to end the frame.
St. Mary’s finally found the board in the fourth. Kyle Ouellette led with a walk and took second on a passed ball. Pinch-runner Kory Ouellette advanced to third base on John Mulready’s fly out to right field. Pacheco (2-for-2, RBI) followed with a clutch run-scoring single that brought home Kory Ouellette for a 1-0 Spartans lead.
Alcock retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings. He worked around a 1-out walk with a pick off and two strikeouts the sixth.
The Spartans tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Reddy was hit by a pitch to start the rally. He took second base on a wild pitch and third base on Kyle Ouellette’s groundout. In stepped No. 3 hitter Coppola (2-for-3, RBI), who roped a RBI-single to score Reddy.
“Jared doesn’t let the moment get too big,” Dana said. “He executes. That was huge. We needed that breathing room.”
A leadoff walk gave Hopkinton hope in the seventh. Alcock iced the victory with two punchouts and a groundout.
St. Mary’s finished the season 20-6.
“The five seniors (Alcock, Coppola, Reddy, Kyle Ouellette, DJ DiCenso) were outstanding,” Dana said. “John and Lee did a great job as junior leaders. This crew was really fun to coach. I’m glad they went out the way they did.”
