Rich Pedroli Classic: Lincoln-Sudbury baseball shows ways it can win against Hopkinton
NATICK — Over the course of a midseason 12-game winning streak, the Lincoln-Sudbury baseball team learned different ways to win.
That streak ended against Westford Academy on May 15, but the Warriors didn’t forget how.
They showed every facet of their game in a 7-3 win against Hopkinton in the first game of Friday’s Rich Pedroli Daily News Classic. The Warriors will face either Franklin or Natick in the championship at 2 p.m. Saturday back at Mahan. Hopkinton, last year's champion, opens the doubleheader against the loser of the second game at 11 a.m.
Against the Hillers, L-S slugged the ball at times, played small ball at others and ultimately leaned on its pitching and defense.
“We’re talented enough to do it in a lot of different ways,” L-S coach Matt Wentworth said. (Friday), we did a little edit of everything).”
The teams exchanged runs for the first two innings until L-S forced open a crack in the top of the third. Starting pitcher Matt Mahoney led off the inning with a single, then Connor Hammond reached on an error. Liam Curley walked to load the bases before Garrett Mahoney brought in the go-ahead run with an RBI single to provide a 4-3 lead. L-S senior Leif Reardon, in just his third start, put the ball in play to make it 5-3 and provide some breathing room.
“It was just about putting the ball in play with two strikes on me,” Reardon said. “I was focused on bat to ball and getting the run to score.”
Mahoney (2-for-2, two RBIs) extended the lead to 6-3 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, and courtesy runner extraordinaire Matthew Stagno, who scored three runs, came home on a mishandled throw to third in the sixth.
“Everything’s coming together. The most important thing is playing loose, and when you have a lot of teammates that back you up and trust you, if you make a bad play you know they’ll be there for you,” Reardon said. “It’s easier to play loose and have fun.”
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The Warriors (16-5) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Matt Mahoney crushed an RBI double and Connor Hammond followed up with an RBI single.
Hopkinton (16-4), which had its own 15-game winning streak snapped, responded with two runs in the bottom half. Derek Hatherley roped an RBI single, and Charlie Petrine came home on a wild pitch after reaching base on a HBP to the helmet. He smiled and walked it off to first.
Jake Haarde returned the lead to L-S 3-2 when he hit a ground-rule double to dip center field that bounced a few feet in front of the fence and hopped over.
Nick Pedroli knotted the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second.
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“They were all over me. I was still tense, so I just relaxed and trusted my defense,” Mahoney said. “I know they’re going to make the plays behind me and trusted my stuff, and it worked."
L-S took over after that. Mahoney only allowed one hits and struck out eight over five innings of work.
“Mahoney went out there and really battled against a team that’s won 15 straight games,” Wentworth said. “When you get that from your starter, that’s amazing.”
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Lincoln-Sudbury baseball takes out Hopkinton to reach Rich Pedroli Classic final
