Franklin wins wet, wild one on walkoff hit by pitch to claim another American Legion baseball state title
MILFORD — Franklin Post 75 defeated Milford Post 59, 3-2, on a walkoff hit by pitch Thursday at Fino Field to win the Massachusetts American Legion State Senior baseball tournament.
Franklin’s third state championship in five years sends it on to the New England regional, which begins Thursday in Shrewsbury.
“We’re not done yet and [if] this defense keep playing the way we’re doing to this caliber, we’re going to go to North Carolina,” said starting pitcher Colin Mont, who earned tournament MVP honors.
Franklin grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second inning and held it into the seventh as Mont — a Sacred Heart commit — held Milford in check. With the hosts’ back against the wall, though, chaos ensued.
Mont — who threw a complete-game shutout against Milford in their first game of the tournament — went out for the seventh at 99 pitches. Milford’s Joey McGee hit his 100th for a single.
“Even if he’s at 70 percent, [Mont’s] our best guy,” Franklin coach Tyler Pasquarosa said.
After the next batter flied out, Gavin Metcalf hit a high chopper that Franklin third baseman Pat Luizzi muffed. In a rush, Luizzi threw the ball wide of first, allowing the runners to advance to second and third.
Matt Pedroli then sent a grounder up the middle to tie the game, 2-2, as Milford’s dugout erupted.
Pasquarosa replaced Mont with Jacoby Brown, but he lasted just seven pitches. After a four-pitch walk, Brown fell behind Ben Maiorano, 2-1, leading Aidan Clark to take the mound.
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With the count full, Maiorano hit a ground ball at Franklin shortstop Jack Sullivan, who fielded, took it to second himself, and threw to first where Zach Winer stretched for the inning-ending double play.
This was the second clutch play by Franklin’s defense. In the fifth, center fielder Sean Kryzak made a diving catch with runners on the corners and two out.
“[Sullivan and Kryzak] are just some of the two best players I’ve ever played with,” Mont said.
Right as Franklin escaped the jam, the umpires put the game into a rain delay, which lasted around an hour and a half. Pasquarosa thought it was a help to his team.
“They were all mad, flipping out that the rain’s coming,” he said. “Let’s reset here and find ways to get on base, and good things will happen.”
After retiring Milford in order, Gavin Heneghan ripped a double to right-center for Franklin off Jackson Fournier. Heneghan advanced to third base when Kryzak hit a dribbler to the pitcher.
Milford intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases and bring up Luizzi with a force at every base, but Fournier clipped Luizzi on the first pitch of the at-bat to score the tournament-winning run.
“[Luizzi] has a mature approach to the game, and I knew he was gonna find a way to get us a state championship,” Pasquarosa said.
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