Abington High baseball's terrific 2-year run ends just shy of another final appearance
LYNN – The MIAA high school baseball tournament is a grind.
Success from last season or even in the regular season has not been an indicator of future success
In fact, the four state champions from the 2021 season combined to go just 1-4 during this year’s tournament. Entering Tuesday, the only team left standing after appearing in last year’s state final was Abington.
“Our kids are dedicated to the sport of baseball and they give me everything they’ve got,” said Abington coach Steve Perakslis.
More: HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP: South Shore teams secure state semifinal and final spots
But like the three 2021 finalists and four state champions, the Green Wave’s run came to an end shy of the state final. On Tuesday at Fraser Field in Lynn, Abington dropped a heartbreaker to Manchester-Essex, 6-5, in eight innings.
To initially extend their season, the Green Wave needed some heroics. Abington took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and led for nearly the entirety of the day. That is until the sixth inning, when the Hornets scored three runs to take a 5-4 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Abington’s season was extended for at least three more outs. Stephen Madden and Spencer Merrick led off the inning with walks. Eddie Reilly singled up the middle to plate Madden to the tie game, but Merrick was gunned out at the plate. Reilly ended up stranded at second base when M-E freshman Connor Heney got the final two outs of the inning.
More: Top of the order is loaded in latest South Shore high school baseball top 10 rankings
Abington’s season was on the brink when Hornets loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. Madden fell behind 2-0 in the final at-bat of the inning and Perakslis made the tough decision to put sophomore Henry Rogers on the mound.
His first pitch was in the dirt to fall behind 3-0. But he battled back to throw two strikes to fill the count and Henry Otterbein fouled off four more pitches. Rogers finally won the battle when he induced a flyout to center fielder Drew Donovan.
“Henry Rogers, I mean what a bad position I put him in,” said Perakslis. “A 2-0 count with the bases loaded and he fell behind 3-0 and he comes back and gets the out. That’s just the way we’ve played all year.”
Heney sat the No. 9 Green Wave (18-6) down in order in the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Abington had two defensive miscues, which allowed M-E to walk off with the win. The No. 5 Hornets (14-9) will play No. 7 Seekonk (13-11) in the state final.
“They’ve given me everything I’ve asked them to give me,” said Perakslis. “I feel for them right now because it hurts, and it’s going to hurt for a while, especially the way it went down.”
The Green Wave will graduate eight seniors.
"The leadership of the captains – Ryan Tobin, Eddie Reilly and Aidan O’Donnell – they’ve just given everything they’ve had,” said Perakslis. “They’ve been tremendous leaders, tremendous captains. The kids respect them and they listen to them. They know that’s the way to go. It just shows them what they need to do next year as the captains.”
O’Donnell tossed the first Abington no-hitter in 18 years earlier this season. And then he threw another one against East Bridgewater later in the season.
More: HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Abington baseball breaks 18-year 'drought'
Drew Donovan, Mike Pineau, Josh Richards, Owen Hagerty and Jack Shea make up the rest of the senior class.
The Green Wave arguably had the loudest dugout in the state the last two seasons. With endless amounts of energy, Abington’s bench had specific chants for every player and every situation.
“We’ve got four seniors on the bench that don’t get very much playing time and they’re the ones that are making all the noise,” said Perakslis. “This is as painful for them. They just love being apart of the team.”
In the fifth inning, sophomore Pat Cummings was inserted into the game unexpectedly in the middle of the frame. He extended Abington’s lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth with an RBI sacrifice fly that scored Rogers.
“That’s just what we do at Abington,” said Perakslis. “Next guy up. Something goes wrong, next guy up, be ready to go.
“He’s only a sophomore, he’s got two more years. He’s going to be a solid part of our program going forward.”
Sophomore John Sellon pitched well in the loss. He started the game and pitched 5 1/3 innings while striking out seven.
The Green Wave struck first in the top of the second inning. Reilly worked a lead-off walk and stole second base. AJ Nash was initially ruled out on a groundout to the shortstop, but after the umpires convened, he was ruled safe to put runners on the corners. On the next pitch, Nash stole second and an errant throw allowed Reilly to take home.
In the fourth inning, Abington’s patient approach proved to be more fruitful. Reilly drew a leadoff walk and ended up on third when Rogers had the first hit of the game for either side with a single to centerfield. Nash, Sellon and Donovan all drew consecutive walks to end M-E starting pitcher Ryan Andrews’s day on the mound and bring in two runs. Manchester-Essex freshman Satchel Rubin came in and limited the damage with a strikeout and a flout to escape a bases-loaded jam.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Abington High baseball loses to Manchester-Essex in Division 4 semis
