Mount Everett Drops Boston International in D5 Tourney
SHEFFIELD, Mass. -- J.J. Schneider went 3-for-4 with a double, and the Mount Everett baseball team Monday used three pitchers to get through a 10-1 over Boston International in the first round of the Division 5 State Tournament.
Landon Havens was 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs for the Eagles, who jumped on top with a five-run first inning and never looked back.
Mount Everett used four walks and two stolen bases in the first-inning rally, which started with a leadoff hit from Brody Kinna (2-for-4) and ended with Havens' two-run single to make it 5-0.
"That was kind of our plan," Mount Everett coach Brian Wade said of his team's aggressive approach early. "We took a lot of live at-bats this week, and we worked on a lot of base running stuff with the thought process of coming out and putting as much pressure on the defense as we can."
Mount Everett tacked on two runs in the second and two more in the third to pull away. It led, 10-1, before the visitors got a solo home run from Soniel Nivar with two out in the top of the sixth.
That was the only hit Mount Everett allowed after a leadoff single to start the top of the first.
Starting pitcher Brody Kinna retired the next three hitters in order and gave up three walks in a rainy start to the game that saw both pitchers struggling with their grips.
"Brody came in, and it was tough at first with the rain, and the ball got heavy at times, but he settled in," Wade said. "Cam [Coon] came in and did exactly what we needed him to do, and Brady [Carpenter] came in and closed the door like he's been doing for us."
Kinna struck out four and walked three. Coon notched four more Ks while allowing a walk in three innings on the mound. Carpenter got a groundball to the mound and two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 seventh.
Wade said that the decision to pull Kinna after just three innings was a consequence of the Eagles' need to handle their pitching staff a little differently since Darius Taliaferro went down with an injury in the Western Massachusetts Class D tournament.
"We have to be more conservative with pitch counts," he said. "I wanted to make sure that we had everybody available if we get to Thursday [and the Round of 16].
"I felt confident with our guys that if we managed our pitch counts, we could have everyone available again on Thursday, and that'll put us in the best situation to win that game."
Seventh-seeded Mount Everett (18-2) advances to host No. 10 West Boylston for a berth in the state quarter-finals.