Franklin, behind timely defense, wins Rich Pedroli Daily News Classic, 5-1 over L-S.
NATICK - A nose for defense.
Whether tracking down long flyballs, turning rally-killing double plays or turning an error into an out, Franklin got the job done with a little glove.
The Panthers nearly kept a gem-per-inning pace Saturday afternoon in winning the 16th Rich Pedroli Daily News Classic. The consistency made it hard to pick a top play, but junior left fielder Zach Winer deserves the nod.
After breaking his nose the night before in a freak accident, Winer made two sweet catches when the game was tight less than 24 hours later and added three hits to lift Franklin past Lincoln-Sudbury, 5-1.
“We work hard on the defensive end – it's just the practice we put in every day that makes our defense so successful,” Winer said. “That keeps the momentum going.”
Winer made a sliding catch to his right on Cooper Tarantino’s sinking line drive to end the first inning and two frames later, sprinted back to the warning track and took extra bases away from Connor Hammond. L-S led 1-0 at the time.
“My first step’s always back,” Winer said. “Run back and see where the ball is. That ball just kept carrying and carrying and I was able to make a play.”
Winer played first base on Friday night when an errant throw in between innings caught him in the nose. He remained in the game with loads of cotton populating his nostrils.
A day later, Winer did not shy away from diving for sinking liners or tracking down long flyballs in front of the fence.
“He was in the ER last night and back at it today,” Franklin coach Zach Brown said.
Center fielder Rex Cinelli also made a nice running catch, but the most important play happened in the fourth inning when L-S loaded the bases with one out after the Panthers took a 3-1 lead.
Franklin senior captain Austin Campbell induced leadoff hitter Jake Haarde to hit a grounder to second baseman Dom Caccavelli, who flipped to shortstop Henry DiGiorgio. The throw to a stretching Jake Shaughnessy at first completed the twin killing to keep the Panthers in front.
“Lots of big plays,” said an appreciative Campbell, who pitched six innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. “You just have to live in the strike zone as much as you can and let the guys make plays.”
Franklin gained the lead in the top of the fourth when pinch-hitter Lukas Phillip ripped a double down the line to score a pair of runs. After adding two runs - including an RBI double by Winer - the Panthers were not finished playing heads-up defense.
In the final frame, a wayward throw in the infield got past Shaughnessy at first base. But the senior – and tournament MVP – hustled to the fence in foul territory and threw to second to nail the runner for the second out. A chopper to DiGiorgio at short ended the game and made Franklin – which lost both of its games here last year in walk-off fashion – a Pedroli champion for the first time since 2022.
“Over those two games (last year), we played our worst defense in probably the previous five years,” Brown said. "Coming into this tournament we knew, for us to win it, we had to play really sound defensively.”
Pedroli family helps make pre-game ceremonies special
After Hopkinton turned a double play to end the consolation game in a 4-3 win over Natick, the Pedroli family was on the field prior to the championship. Rich’s mother, sister and mother were behind home plate when Pedroli cousin Caramia Pozzi delivered a pitch perfect national anthem.
Dori Pedroli, Rich’s sister, then threw out the first pitch – from the mound.
Tarantino put L-S in front with an RBI double in the second inning before Franklin tied the game in the fourth when Winer drove in a run with a single. Phillip’s clutch two-bagger put his team ahead to stay.
“It’s a competitive tournament – all good teams,” Campbell said. “It feels like playoff baseball. It’s fun to just come out here and compete.”
“This felt like a playoff game,” Tarantino said, echoing Campbell. “It was for a championship. They got a good squad, they threw their best guy. I like the opportunity to get that kind of exposure, get that kind of pressure, feel that pressure.”
Aside from the competition, Brown reeled off the many reasons why this tournament means so much to so many. He listed connections with former coaches Kirk Fredericks (L-S) and Steve Simoes (Hopkinton) and the fact that Brown and Natick coach Jason Hoye played baseball together at Wheaton College.
But the tournament’s namesake sits at the top.
“There’s multiple reasons why the tournament means a lot to us. First foremost, Rich Pedroli and what he meant to this area and high school athletics.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
Bats arrive for Hopkinton ahead of state tournament
The hitting that has eluded Hopkinton for stretches of this season returned in a spurt to help the Hillers drop Natick 4-3 in Saturday’s Rich Pedroli Daily News Classic consolation game.
Despite winning 15 consecutive games and ascending to No. 3 in the Division 2 power rankings, Hopkinton scored at least four runs for just the third time in its past seven games. The Hillers have won three 1-0 games during the stretch. Hopkinton coach Matt Anderson was impressed with the team’s approach against Colby-bound Matt Mahoney in Friday’s opener despite only amassing two hits.
“Offense has been our struggle this year, we’ve been pitching and defense,” Anderson said. “We’ve been having better at bats against tough pitching, and I think that benefitted us.”
The Hillers trailed 2-0 after 3 ½ innings before Charlie Petruney led off with a double. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then Nick Pedroli brought him home with an RBI double to cut the lead in half. After a Lucas Hodne single put runners at first and third, and Ryan Lang tied the game at 2-2.
Petruney did even more damage in the bottom of the fifth. Dylan Ruff singled to open the inning, and Petruney brought him home with a double that made it 3-2 Hillers. A ground out moved Petruney, who was named to the all-tournament team after an MVP performance last year, to third, and he scored what proved the winning run on a wild pitch.
“We’re pretty good in all scenarios. Our biggest strength is that we’re even keeled,” Anderson said. We’re not affected by teams going on a run on us or vice versa.”
Natick opened the scoring in the top of the third. Robert Farr connected on an RBI single, and Jack Byrne brought home another run with a sacrifice fly.
The Redhawks cut into the lead even more with a Byrne RBI single in the top of the seventh, but a double play prevented Natick from forcing the game to the bottom of the frame.
An ode to the playground: Johnson School was Natick's sports hub, where basketball, wall ball and 'bockey' reigned
Natick’s Matthew Schulz was 3-for-3 and scored a run, earning all-tournament honors after a 5-for-7 weekend. The loss ended Natick’s season at 3-17 but provided Hopkinton with a look at playoff intensity before the Hillers open the state tournament next week.
“We’re battle tested,” Anderson said. “We’ve had a lot of close games, which is going to help you in the tournament.”
--Kyle Grabowski
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Winer doesn't let broken nose get in way of Franklin's Pedroli title
