Down to its final out three times, Seekonk triumphs on Brayden McBride’s clutch hit in D4 baseball final

Sport admin June 13, 2026 0 Comments

Down to its final out three times, Seekonk triumphs on Brayden McBride’s clutch hit in D4 baseball final

WORCESTER — Brayden McBride just wanted to keep fighting.

At the plate with his Seekonk team down to its final out Saturday afternoon, then down to his final strike, the Warriors’ catcher fought, fouling off three straight pitches.

Then, he delivered.

The junior’s clutch two-run double down the third-base line flipped a 3-2 deficit, putting the No. 7 Warriors ahead and helping deliver Seekonk’s third title in four years, 4-3, over top-seeded Hamilton-Wenham in the Division 5 title game at Polar Park.

“I was extremely scared, I’m not going to lie to you,” McBride said. “I saw that slider, kind of just barely, barely stayed alive, and that’s just what my mind-set turned to, just keep fighting.”

Related: High school championship scoreboard

The Warriors (18-7) led 2-0 after scoring on an error and a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, but the Generals (23-2) immediately responded, scoring a pair in the bottom of the frame on an Owen Waddell single.

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The Warriors needed ace Cole Arruda (6 innings, 3 earned runs, 8 strikeouts) to dial in, and he kept pace with Hamilton-Wenham’s Cormac Heney (5 innings, 1 earned run, 5 strikeouts) until Heney put the Generals ahead with a fifth-inning RBI single.

Down to their final out three times in the seventh, the Warriors got a hit-by-pitch, then a single from Avian DaRosa to put two men on. DaRosa kept calling to the plate telling McBride to “believe,” and after reaching base his first three at-bats without a hit, he got the big one.

“Brayden, that’s my guy,” Arruda said. “We grew up together, played little league together, he’s been my right-hand man ever since. I’m so happy for him. I love him.”

It also wasn’t possible without a remarkable double play to end the game. The Generals had the tying run on third with one out, but a squeeze bunt attempt was popped up to first. Austin Robinson made the catch and fired it to third, where DaRosa made an acrobatic catch and tag while running back to the bag for the final out.

“I’ve been coaching baseball for a long time, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Seekonk coach Joe Demelo said. “We joke that we’re never out of it until we’re on the bus.”

It’s been a remarkable run for the Warriors over the last five years, with titles in 2023 and 2024, and finishing as runner-up in 2022. When they fell in the second round a year ago, it stung. Now, they’re back on top of Division 4.

“We do what we can each and every day,” McBride said. “I was here when we won it two years ago, and it was kind of similar. We have a brotherhood here, and I just, I love it.”