LYNN — When you hear the words “comeback kids,” who or what do you think of? There’s Balboa, LaRusso, the ‘04 Red Sox, and, well, you get the point.
That said, if you asked someone that question Saturday afternoon, he or she might’ve answered with the St. Mary’s baseball team, which defeated Mansfield 4-3 to advance to the Division 2 Final Four.
The stage at Fraser Field was set, but not in St. Mary’s favor.
Mansfield held a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning – oh, and there was just one Spartan on base with two outs.
“Was it our best game? No,” St. Mary’s Coach Derek Dana said.
But suddenly, a walk and hit batter loaded the bases, and things became interesting.
“You’ve just got to have a mindset,” Dana said. “I’m not going down here.”
Freshman Michael DeMaino of St. Mary’s listened, hitting a single to right field to score two and tie the game 3-3.
“Michael DeMaino – who’s just been red hot down the stretch here – comes up with a huge hit,” Dana said. “Two outs, and they all kept it moving.”
St. Mary’s Tommy Falasca – who told himself he was getting on base no matter what – advanced to third on DeMaino’s hit.
From there, Mansfield called a timeout, and Tad Giardina of the Spartans was warming up.
“They called a timeout and I walked over to Tad,” Falasca said. “I said, ‘You’re going to get on, and you’re going to win us this game.’”
Giardina backed up his teammate on the prediction.
“He did say that,” Giardina said.
And before you knew it, Giardina hit a walk-off single to score Falasca and win the game 4-3.
“Just believe,” Giardina said. “I just had to come in with a big hit in the end.”
Screams, hugs, and applause flooded Fraser Field – no pun intended as the game featured three weather delays – and St. Mary’s was on to the Final Four.
“I’m just so happy for the kids,” Dana said. “I think they’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives.”
Not only did it end with Giardina, but the rally began with him, too. The senior made a diving catch in the sixth inning, and, had he missed, two more Hornets likely would’ve scored.
“That catch, that hit,” Dana said. “Some people can come into this atmosphere and go totally sideways. He saved his best for last.”
Early highlights included Giardina’s sacrifice fly in the first inning (1-0), and St. Mary’s Josh Doney allowing just two runs across 6 2/3 innings.
“Josh did a great job on the mound,” Dana said.
Icing a football kicker for two minutes is one thing, but Mother Nature iced St. Mary’s – which trailed 2-1 – with a third and final delay in the seventh.
That said, Dana took the opportunity to speak with his players.
“Talking during the rain delay – and we talked all year – one time we were 4-6 and not playing well at all,” Dana said. “You really put it all together.”
After the pep talk, the rest was history. No. 10 St. Mary’s takes on No. 3 King Phillip in the semis (TBD).
“Well, there’s only four left, and we’re not going to change a thing,” Dana said.
