Toland Time: Three brothers help build family feel with North Quincy High baseball
QUINCY — When you hear about triples on the North Quincy High baseball team, it's not just a reference to what’s happening on the diamond.
Meet the Toland brothers: freshman Tim, sophomore Matthew, and junior John. They’re all on the NQ varsity team, marking the first time the siblings have shared the diamond on the same team before.
“It’s been pretty cool,” said Matthew, an outfielder. “It’s the first time all three of us have been on the same team. It’s a really good experience.”
“It’s definitely different,” said the youngest brother Tim. “You get a free ride to practice and it’s fun.”
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The Toland brothers contributed to a dominant 12-0 win (a six-inning game due to the mercy rule) Monday against Quincy in the Steve Sullivan tournament. The Raiders will play undefeated and defending Division 2 state champion Milton on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Adams Field.
Tim Toland, who plays left field, had two stolen bases, two hits and scored twice. John Toland had an RBI single to plate Charlie Ambroult in the second inning.
This Raiders team is close, and the Toland brothers are a big reason. But there's also another set of brothers in the dugout.
“We have (the Tolands) and then we have the Dudach (Ben and Dan) brothers,” said NQ coach Matt Edgerly. “We have all brothers, which is awesome. And they all get along really well so it’s cool to see.”
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Other Raiders who scored were: senior captains Alex Montero and Vinny O’Leary, sophomore Sean Szilva (two), plus juniors Will Conley, Ben Dudach, Paul Glynn, Michael Campbell and Dan Hubach (two).
“Everyone was able to contribute today and it’s always fun when you can get guys who are more team morale guys in,” said John Toland, who plays center field. “They’re having fun, it’s always good to beat up on Quincy.”
A secret weapon the Raiders have is base running. NQ had 12 stolen bases, and used plenty of pinch-runners in Tuesday's win. They have no plans on slowing down.
“That’s been us this year,” said Edgerly. "We have 22 guys on the roster and 20 of them can steal the bag. We haven’t been thrown out yet so we’re going to keep staying aggressive until people start throwing us out.”
Framingham State commit Montero starred with two steals and three hits. Matthew Toland said “he’s the man, Alex is that guy, every time he’s at the plate he’s dangerous.”
The Raiders also received solid pitching in the win from Kevin Pritchard, Charlie Maki and Nick DePalma.
“Kevin Pritchard has been our stud, our best arm so far this year. He beat Pembroke a week ago,” said Edgerly. “Nick DePalma is a sophomore and came in after, had a clean inning and it was awesome to see, he’s going to be really good.
"Then Charlie Maki at the end, that was his first inning of the year and he struck out three guys, it was awesome."
As always, a town rivalry game means a little bit more at the Adams Field.
“I try to tell our guys not to put too much emphasis on this game,” said Edgerly. “They tend to because it’s their rivalry but we try to stay even, not get too high, but it’s tough to especially when we put up 12 and give up none.”
The Raiders now improved to 2-3 on the season, but it’s been special in many ways. There’s a level of camaraderie that is unlikely to be duplicated.
“It’s super fun,” said the oldest Toland brother, Matthew. “We've never been able to play on the same team because of our ages but it’s fun having them around, having them hang out with my friends and stuff."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: North Quincy High baseball runs past Quincy
