Matt Labriola always believed, and so did King Philip as it secured the school’s first baseball title

WORCESTER — Even when he was playing JV last year, Matt Labriola always pictured himself starting on the mound for a state title one day.

Read more With his dad, a former Red Sox pitcher, at his side, Jeff Plympton Jr. coaches King Philip to first title

“You have to believe it from the start, from day one,” said Labriola.

On Friday night at Polar Park, the King Philip junior’s vision came true.

With a four-strikeout, four-hitter the righthander put the 11th-seeded Warriors on his back en route to a 4-1 victory over No. 4 Milton (18-7) in the Division 2 championship, securing the school’s first baseball state title in its fourth championship appearance.

In three postseason starts, Labriola went 3-0 with 29 strikeouts, surrendering just one run.

“Someone like him, you’d think he’d be up last year,” coach Jeff Plympton Jr. said. “Last year we had a stacked pitching staff, and we knew coming in [this year] that he was going to give us a hell of an effort. He just improved every game, and it’s nothing more fitting than to cap it off at Polar Park.”

Labriola surpassed the 115-pitch mark with two outs in the seventh, forcing him off the mound for the last out.

With runners on the corners, senior Jacoby Cady finished the job for the Warriors (17-8) by inducing a groundout to short.

“I was very mad,” Labriola said of not completing the game. “Very mad.”

The two-run cushion that King Philip provided Labriola in the top of the first helped his confidence soar.

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Thomas Lufty drove in the initial run with a line drive to center field, then he stole home while the Wildcats’ defense dealt with a pickle between first and second.

“Hitting was a point of emphasis coming into the postseason, and we knew if we could give Matty a lead, he’d be able to hold it for us,” Plympton said.

Jack Naughton (2 for 2, RBI, two walks) helped Milton cut its deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to right-center, which plated Tim O’Sullivan.

With two outs and runners on second and third in the top of the sixth, Cooper Sisti ripped an RBI single to left, and Ryan Kelly — who started for the Wildcats and struck out seven — hit Nick Broughton with the bases juiced.

Even when Labriola envisioned this coming to fruition, he didn’t expect it to happen so flawlessly.

“It’s perfect,” Labriola said. “Baseball always finds a way to give you those amazing moments.”

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