Walpole Baseball, coming off a disappointing loss against No.10 Newton North, bounced back on Monday, April 8 against Wellesley (8-2) and on Saturday, April 6 against Mansfield (8-5). The Rebels are ranked No.3 in the state in the ESPNBoston.com ranking; however, not even ranked in Boston.com’s top 25. Hence, there is much uncertainty concerning the potential of this team, yet with the exception of Newton North, the Boys seem prime for another successful campaign.
Baseball hit their first speed bump at Newton North, who is an extremely experienced ball club. In last year’s MIAA Division 1 State Tournament, Newton lost in the sectional finals against eventual State Champion Xaverian; so the boys had their hands full against the 10th ranked team in the state.
Entering thursday afternoon’s game, Walpole had three goals in mind: “Know your signs, keep the mental mistakes to a minimum, get a road victory”.
Although they started the game on a solid note as a result of timely hitting from junior Bobby Rabaioli and senior Mike Rando, the Rebels could not keep the mental mistakes to a minimum–committing several defensive mistakes late in the game. After six innings, the Rebels found themselves behind 6-4. Because NN started their ace on the hill, Walpole could not find an success at the plate late in the game; the final score was 8-5 after nine full innings.
The Rebels, in desperate need of a win to preserve their top 10 ranking, were happy to face a younger Mansfield club. The game started off quick again when Rando bunted for a single, stole second and was advanced to third by a hard ground out by senior Johnny Adams. Senior Matt Bender would then hit a clutch two-out double to bring Rando in to put the Rebels up 1-0. But defense once again killed the Rebels who misplayed many balls, to not only allow Mansfield to tie the game, but go ahead. “Playing from behind is not always the easiest, but you don’t want to get behind too often,” said senior Tom Farrow. Although there was questionable defense around him, Farrow pitched five strong inning, keeping the Rebels in the game.
After big hits from senior Rick Ordway and junior Brendan Chassion, Walpole took a lead that they would not look back from; the final score was 8-5.
“The game was not the prettiest, but a win is a win. We did what we needed to get a win,” said senior pitcher Tom Demarias.
The Rebels would go on to get an 8-2 win against a hot Wellesley team who beat the consensus number one team in the state Xaverian by ten runs. In the eighth inning when the game was still close, Adams laced a two-run home run to left-center to cap a four-hit, three-run day and Ordway hit a three-run blast to left for his second hit of the day. Rando had two hits and Bobby Ivatts added three. Cam Hanley also had an RBI.
Although the Rebels hit a road bump at Newton North, they seem to be cruising entering the Herget division play.
