Johnny Escobalez began the 12 months on the junior varsity. He completed as a state champion.
In entrance of an lively and boisterous crowd, Escobalez fired an entire recreation, scattering simply 5 hits and surrendering a lone earned run to elevate No. 2 Taunton to its third Div. 1 State title in 4 years with a 7-2 win over No. 1 Franklin on Sunday night time at Polar Park.
The state championship is Taunton’s second straight over its Hockomock Kelley-Rex rival Franklin.
“Johnny is phenomenal,” Taunton coach Blair Bourque stated. “Enough can’t be said about the performance, especially being a sophomore. Being on this stage is incredible. The future is really bright but this is a really special day for him.”
The prime of Taunton’s lineup proved relentless as soon as once more off Franklin ace Alfred Mucciarone. Braden Sullivan, Brayden Cali, and Dawson Bryce mixed for eight of the Tigers’ 11 hits and 5 of their RBIs.
“Mucciarone is the best pitcher in the state so we wanted to be aggressive early in counts,” Bourque stated. “If he could get ahead we knew we would be in trouble so we looked to capitalize early. (Sullivan) and Dawson had some major hits.”
Taunton (21-4) struck within the prime of the opening inning when Ryan MacDougall dropped an RBI double into no-man’s land in left area that introduced dwelling Cali. One inning later, the Tigers supplied all of the insurance coverage Escobalez wanted. Consecutive comebackers, the second on a bunt, to Mucciarone led to errant throws to deliver dwelling Taunton’s second run of the sport. Later within the inning, after a stroll, Sullivan roped a two run single to left to stretch Taunton’s result in 4-0.
After Cali singled, Bryce placed on the exclamation level within the inning taking a slider down the proper area line for a two run double to place Taunton on prime 6-0. Franklin acquired a run again within the backside of the third on a pair of errors however Escobalez was in any other case dominant.
The sophomore left-hander retired eight consecutive hitters between the third and sixth innings to assist the Tigers extinguish their rival foe for the second consecutive 12 months within the season’s climax.
“We knew we had what it took,” Sullivan stated. “This city, this program. It starts from a very young age. I think we carried that legacy on throughout our careers. To have a junior and senior year winning state championships, it’s awesome.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com