The Bromfield Trojans added to their winning record last week, narrowly beating the Littleton Tigers in a May 22 home game 1–0; losing 9–7 in an away game against the St. Bernard’s Saints May 23; and two days later swamping the Ayer Shirley Panthers 26–18 in an away slugfest lasting nearly three hours. The team’s Ayer Shirley win was fueled by a 16-run third inning and a seven-run fourth inning, assuring the Trojans of a postseason berth for the second straight year.
Bromfield vs. Ayer Shirley
Trojan starting pitcher and senior Rory Van Dorpe held the Panthers scoreless for the first two innings. What started as an RBI double in the top of the third by junior Lance Jarosz turned into a 16-run romp with six extra-base hits for Bromfield. However, the Panthers rallied, adding eight runs of their own to bring the score to 16–8 at inning’s end.
Junior Alex Magan winds up for a pitch as an Ayer Shirley player watches from second base. (Courtesy photo)
In the top of the fourth, the Trojans put seven more runs on the scoreboard, for a 23–8 lead. One of the runs came after Jarosz was walked on a wild pitch, which was not recovered by the Panthers, allowing him enough time to run around the bases. However, the Panthers did not submit to Bromfield, scoring six runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it 23–14 in favor of the Trojans, preventing them from winning by mercy rule, which is invoked when a team leads by 15 runs after four complete innings.
Ayer Shirley would put up four more runs in the last three innings as the Panthers tried to come back, but the Trojans held them off for an eight-run lead and a final score of 26–18.
Trojan players Clayton Hanlon and Jake Elliott led the team with three hits and four RBIs each, while the Panthers’ Nick Granger had four hits and four RBIs.
Bromfield vs. Littleton
Leading the Trojans’ 1–0 victory over the Littleton Tigers earlier in the week, Bromfield pitcher Jackson Harrigan threw a full game, struck out six players, allowed only two hits, and didn’t give up a walk. Each team committed only one error. Bromfield had four hits and Littleton had two. There were no hits after the second inning.
The first inning saw the only run of the game. At the top, Littleton got a man to third base, but the next batter struck out before a run could score. In the bottom of the first, senior Rory Van Dorpe started with a single. Senior Jackson Harrigan was tagged out at first, but Van Dorpe made it to second. Next, junior Lance Jarosz sent Van Dorpe to third with a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Junior Alex Magan drove Van Dorpe home with a double. Although Magan made it to third base on junior Andrew Hill’s hit, he was unable to get home before the third out.
In the second inning Littleton came close to earning a run. The Tigers’ first batter hit a triple. Fortunately for Bromfield, three outs followed. Harrigan caught the next batter’s hit. Then, when the following Littleton player hit the ball toward third base, Hill picked it up and tagged the man on third before he could get home. The last out was a tag at first.
Neither team scored in the remaining innings. Most outs were either caught balls or tag-outs at first base.
These games put Bromfield’s overall record at 10–8 with a league record of 5–3. The team’s last two games of the regular season were scheduled for Tuesday, May 29, against Ayer Shirley and Wednesday, May 30, against West Boylston. With its latest victories, Bromfield clinched a postseason spot for the second time in as many years.
India Bartram is a Bromfield junior. Michael Jarosz is a 2015 Bromfield graduate.
