Five Run Fifth Propels Baseball to the FAA Finals

Trailing 2-1 in an FAA semifinal game against #3 Hopkins, #2 Brunswick plated five runs in the fifth inning on its way to a 7-4 win at home on Thursday. The win, the final home game of the 2017 season, puts the Bruins (14-5) into their third-straight FAA championship game on Friday, May 19, when they'll face top-seeded RCDS in Rye. 

 

Looking ahead to the FAA title match-up, the Bruins swept both regular-season games against the Wildcats this year.

 

In the semifinal game, Hopkins struck first with a run in the top of the second, and the Hilltoppers kept the Bruins off the scoreboard until the fourth inning.

 

In the bottom of the fourth, the Bruins scored the tying run without a base hit, as Patrick Ryan worked his way around the bases after a being hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning. Ryan quickly stole second and reach third on a throwing error. With two outs, another throwing error on a failed pick-off attempt allowed Ryan to cross the plate and tie the game at one.

 

Hopkins regained the lead in the fifth inning on a one-out solo homer to right by Ryan Meury.

 

Trailing 2-1 in the decisive fifth inning, the Bruins opened the inning with a lead-off walk to J.D. Sparks and a bunt single by Santiago Riera. Trystan Sarcone followed with a game-tying, RBI double to right that scored Sparks and moved Riera to third.

 

Following a walk to Aaron Sabato, captain Ryan Hanrahan drove in Riera and Sarcone with a two-run single to center, and the Bruins built a 4-2 lead with no outs.

 

After a sac-bunt by Ryan moved Sabato to second and Hanrahan to third, Ethan Hynes drove in Sabato on a sac-fly to center to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead with two away. Tommy Napolitano followed with an RBI single to left, capping the five-run inning for Brunswick.

 

The Hilltoppers got a pair of runs back in the sixth inning, using a one-out solo homer by Alexis Galvinosky and a RBI single later in the inning to cut the Brunswick lead to 6-4.

 

The Bruins added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth during a two-out rally, as Ryan slapped an RBI single to left to give the Bruins a 7-4 lead.

 

In the top of the seventh, Aaron Sabato made his second relief appearance of the season, stepping in for Sarcone, the Brunswick starter. 

 

Sabato allowed the first two runners to reach base after the leadoff man singled and the next batter reached on a fielding error, which brought the tying run to the plate with no outs. After a fly-out to left, Sabato walked the next batter to load the bases with one down. Sabato settled down and struck out the next batter on three pitches and enticed the final hitter to fly out to right, as the Bruins held on for a 7-4 win and a spot in the FAA finals.

 

Sarcone (6-0) picked up the win, as the lefty tossed six innings and struck out four, while allowing four earned runs. The junior hurler finishes the season with 52 strikeouts against 15 walks and a sparking 1.089 ERA over 45.0 innings. Sabato picked up the first save of his career, closing out the game with a scoreless seventh inning.

 

Seven different Bruins had hits, as Sarcone collected the lone extra-base hit with an RBI double. Hanrahan paced the hosts with two RBI, while Sabato added a single, two walks, and scored a run in the final home game of the 2017 season.

Line Score  1 2 3 4 5 6 7   R  H  E

HPKN         0 1 0 0 1 2 0   4  8  2

BRNS         0 0 0 1 5 1 X    7  7  2