WEST BRIDGEWATER — The No. 37 Lynn Tech baseball team fell short Friday afternoon at the hands of No. 28 West Bridgewater, 2-1, in a defensive battle between two teams that, frankly, didn’t want their seasons to end.
The Division 4 showdown was scoreless through three innings before the Tigers pounced on an early lead. In the top of the fourth, Chris Boyd singled to center field. After two groundouts, Boyd was on third base with two outs. Freshman Riley Driscoll was at the plate with the chance to give the visitors the lead.
With two strikes, Driscoll protected the plate and hit a single – just over the third baseman’s glove – to bring Boyd home for a 1-0 Tech lead.
“Riley has been looking to get back on track. He’s been struggling a little bit as of late, but he definitely stepped up today,” said Tech coach Eddie Lewis. “He’s a young guy. We have him for three more years.”
The Tigers held their lead until the fifth inning, when a passed ball tied the game (1-1). Nick Navin of the Wildcats got a “great secondary lead,” according to head coach Jay Costantino, to get home before the throw.
Before that mistake, the Tigers defense was playing great, per Lewis.
“Honestly, I thought we performed great. We were doing a great job on defense. We were pretty much in it the whole ballgame,” Lewis said.
Then, in the sixth inning, the Wildcats scored the eventual game-winning run. With a man on third base and one out, Costantino called for a squeeze play. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it worked to perfection for a 2-1 lead.
“We got the safety squeeze for the final run. It was a great job by Christian Bates. It was a good read by Ben Dowdall at third base,” Costantino said. “I figured we were at the bottom of our order and felt like we had to score there because I wasn’t too sure if we were going to be able to get back into that position, in that inning at least. I’m known to bunt, and we work on that play all the time, so I was comfortable to call it in that situation.”
Despite the win, Costantino gave credit to Tech for being a tough opponent.
“Lynn played a great game. They really battled us,” he said.
The Tigers got runners on base in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t bring home the tying run, thanks to some good pitching from West Bridgewater.
“James Sheedy is a big strike-thrower for us, always around the plate and did a great job throwing first-pitch strikes, which is big in any game,” Costantino said. “Jag Garces is one of our better pitchers. We had him, kind of, in the back pocket to close the game.”
Lewis was proud of how his team performed all spring to clinch the postseason.
“I’m proud of the team, all the way around. From where we came from to now, these guys did exactly what I was looking for today,” Lewis said. “We’ve been solid on defense all year long and it carried over to the postseason. “
With five seniors, it was Lewis’ biggest graduating class in his tenure.
“We had more seniors this year than we had in the last three years since I’ve been here,” Lewis said. “We have five seniors and pretty much all of them made an impact. Whether it was baserunning, at the plate, in the field, or on the mound, I’m going to miss them and it was just a great season.”
But what Lewis is going to miss the most – about this team, at least – is its willingness to battle.
“These guys stuck together from start to finish. We struggled a little bit, but it was the way they stuck together and went on that little run to get into the tournament. They weren’t necessarily focused on winning or losing. They were more focused on playing together, enjoying the game, and that’s pretty much all you can ask for as a coach.”
West Bridgewater travels to face No. 5 Northbridge this Sunday at noon.
