Max effort: North Quincy's Gaudiano has big day in Sullivan Tournament win over Quincy

QUINCY -- The North Quincy High baseball team will get another crack at mighty Milton this week.

The last meeting went better than you might have expected.

The Raiders could not derail the Wildcats' push for a second straight Division 2 state championship last spring when their paths crossed in the playoffs. But Milton's two-run victory in the Round of 32 actually was the Wildcats' second-closest playoff win in their five-game sprint to the title.

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Considering that NQ was a No. 32 seed (one that needed to win a preliminary game just to get to the main draw) and Milton was the top seed and defending state champ, the 4-2 outcome was not bad from the Raiders' perspective.

"Last year we played Milton tough," junior catcher Max Gaudiano recalled. "Alex Montero, he threw unbelievable (in that game)."

"(I was) very pleased (with how we played), especially considering that they went on to win the state championship," said junior pitcher Aidan McCarthy. "The fact that we stayed in that game was a real confidence boost for this season."

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NQ and Milton will square off again on Thursday in the final of the Steven J. Sullivan Tournament after both won first-round games at Adams Field on Tuesday. Milton went first, blasting Foxboro, 8-0, to improve to 3-1. NQ was up next, pulling away from city rival Quincy late for a 9-1 win that sets up a 6 p.m. title bout.

"It'll be a tough game," McCarthy said, "but I think we have a chance."

North Quincy's chances are boosted by the presence of Gaudiano in the Raiders' lineup. The No. 3 hitter was 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs against Quincy, pushing his season average to .562 with 10 RBIs. In Sunday's 8-6 loss to Braintree he had three hits, including a homer, and 4 RBIs.

"I really like the way I've been going," Gaudiano said. "I've been seeing the ball much better (lately). At the beginning of the season I couldn't hit very well. But I'm getting going and I'm hoping to stay hot."

"He's amazing. He's a stud," McCarthy said. "He's always showing out for us, always picking us up. He's the hottest hitter on the team right now."

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Gaudiano got the Raiders (2-3) going with a two-run double in the first that plated leadoff hitter Ronan Brown (1-for-3, 2 runs, RBI) and No. 2 hitter Ryan Wirtz (2-for-3, 3 runs, RBI). Charlie Ambroult's RBI single made it 3-0.

Gaudiano also threw out a pair of would-be Quincy base-stealers; each was out by at least 6 feet.

"Quincy always likes to test me with running," Gaudiano said with a grin. "Last year we saw the same thing and I was ready for it. It was nice."

McCarthy made the early lead stand up by consistently pitching out of trouble. Quincy (1-4) stranded nine runners through McCarthy's five innings.

"It was tough at the beginning of the innings," said McCarthy, who allowed the leadoff man to reach base three times over the first four innings, "but toward the end I was able to make the pitches that I needed to in order to get the outs."

"That's been our issue all year," lamented Quincy coach Rick Beach. "We just can't come up with the big hit. We strike out with men on base and less than two outs. We can't put the ball in play."

McCarthy, a junior right-hander, allowed 2 hits over his 5 innings before giving way to reliever Charlie Maki, who fanned four over his 2 innings of work. The teams traded runs in the fifth inning before NQ busted things open with five runs in the sixth to halt a two-game losing streak.

"It's always nice to beat Quincy," Gaudiano said. "They fought hard through four (innings); then we got going. This really helps us because we've got a tough opponent in Milton on Thursday. We're on a high right now and we're hoping to bring it against Milton."

NOTES: NQ coach Matt Edgerly said senior right fielder Charlie Baker was OK after a huge collision at first base with Quincy second baseman Nate Hall in the fifth inning. (Hall tried to beat Baker to the bag on a grounder that eluded first baseman Chase Gillespie). Baker left the game holding his left shoulder, but Edgerly said Baker was asking to return to the game late before the Raiders broke it open. ... The tournament is named after the former NQ pitching coach (and Quincy High grad) who died of cancer in 2016 at age 28. Said Edgerly: "Steve Sullivan coached with me, so the tournament means a lot to me. Playing in the championship Thursday night against a good team like Milton is where we wanted to be."

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Gaudiano (4 hits, 3 RBIs) leads North Quincy baseball past Quincy