Mount Everett Walks Off State Tournament Win

SHEFFIELD, Mass. – Johnny Ireland hit a two-out single to left field to drive in Darius Taliaferro in the bottom of the seventh to give the Mount Everett baseball team a 6-5 win over Monson in the Division 5 State Tournament on Thursday.

 

Moments after getting the biggest hit of his high school career and moments before his teammates gave him an ice-water shower, Ireland turned the focus to what happened before his walkoff hit.

 

“It's a great win for the team,” Ireland said. “We all played great. J.J. [Schneider] did a great job setting us up with the bunt. That's all you can ask for, really.

 

“I was just looking for a pitch middle away, looking to drive the ball that way. I really like going that way. And the first pitch I saw it, I did.”

 

The 11th-seeded Eagles (13-7) advance to Sunday’s state quarter-final at No. 3 Drury. The Blue Devils in the regular season beat Mount Everett by scores of 7-4 and 5-4.

 

On Wednesday, Monson scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to erase a 5-4 Mount Everett lead.

 

Needing a run to win, the Eagles got a one-out walk from Taliaferro to get the winning rally going. He moved up on Trevor Leonard’s single to right field and took third when Schneider dropped down the team’s second sac bunt of the game.

 

That brought up the No. 9 hitter, Ireland, a ninth-grader who had seven hits coming into the game but ripped a two-run double in the second inning.

 

He delivered in the clutch and touched off a celebration as Mount Everett went to the Round of Eight for the first time since the start of the statewide tournament in 2022.

 

“It’s phenomenal,” Mount Everett coach Dan Lanoue said of Ireland’s game-winner. “Because it just shows the trust he has in himself. You know, he’s been playing for a long time, and he knew the situation, knows what he had to do, and he drove in a run.”

 

The Eagles struck first in what ended up being a back-and-forth game down to the final swing.

 

Sean Warren drove in Brodie Kinna with a one-out groundout in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead.

 

The Eagles went up 3-0 in the second after Taliaferro (2-for-4) singled, Schneider reached on an error and stole second and Ireland brought both home with a double to left center.

 

The Mustangs exploded for four runs in the top of the third, taking advantage of an infield single from the bottom of its lineup and four straight walks – the third marking the last pitch thrown by Mount Everett starter Warren.

 

Kinna, who started the game in right field, got the call to the mound. He gave up a walk and an RBI single before retiring the last two outs to end the inning with Monson on top, 4-3.

 

Kinna went on to give the Eagles 3 and two-thirds innings, striking out four and not allowing a run.

 

“He’s been phenomenal for us all year,” Lanoue said of Kinna. “Sometimes it’s even better for him to come in as a reliever, because sometimes he gets in his head as a starter, thinking about it all day. But sometimes, when you point to him and tell him to come in, he knows the situation and he doesn’t have time to think about it. He just goes out there and does his job.”

 

Mount Everett’s defense did its job behind its pitchers all day.

 

First baseman Brady Carpenter stabbed a line drive and fired to second to double off a runner in the first. Ireland at second did the same thing in the sixth, catching a liner and relaying to Carpenter at first to catch a runner there.

 

Offensively, meanwhile, Mount Everett tied Monson in the bottom of the third and regained the lead one inning later.

 

In the third, Leonard grounded out to the left side with the bases loaded and one out to plate Warren. In the fourth, Jacob Kreis doubled with two out to bring home Ireland, who reached on a walk, to make it 5-4, Eagles.

 

Kreis went from catcher to pitcher to start the top of the seventh, and Monson’s Jake Beaupre greeted him with a leadoff single. Beaupre stole second and moved up on a pitch that got to the backstop before scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game, setting the stage for Mount Everett’s winning rally in the seventh.

 

The Eagles have some experience in close games. Thursday’s was Mount Everett’s eight game decided by three runs or fewer. It was 3-4 in those games coming in.

 

“We’ve been down, we’ve come back,” Lanoue said. “Against Smith Academy, I think we were down two in the seventh and came back and put up four. Against Drury, we’ve been down and came back but didn’t win. It just shows how tough we are as a team. We believe in ourselves, and we try to do everything we can to get that last run across.”

 

On Sunday, it will try to get those runs against Drury, a reigning Western Mass champion that has won its last six.

 

“I wish it was two rounds later in the finals,” Lanoue said with a smile. “We’ve played them tough. They’re a tough team – tough all all around: pitching, hitting, defensively. We’ve got Matt [Lowe] on the mound, so we’re going to bring everything we can.”