STATE CHAMPS! Belmont Takes Girls’ Rugby Title Over Algonquin

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Photo: Smiles from the Belmont High Girls Rugby, state champions.

Belmont High School Girls’ Head Coach Kate McCabe told her team during the season that “offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”

McCabe’s adage turned out to be spot-on prophetic as the Marauders used a punishing defense to propel its offense to  17 unanswered points as Belmont defeated Algonquin Regional High School, 17-14, to win the inaugural MIAA Girls’ Rugby State Championship on a hot Saturday afternoon at Endicott College, June 10.

After falling behind 14-0 in the first 25 minutes, the Marauders’ used a “no stars” team approach to claw back into the game, sparked by two pivotal plays by a pair of sophomores and the determined leadership of a group of graduated seniors.

“There is not a girl that has been playing with us this entire season that doesn’t deserve credit for what we did out there,” said senior captain Sara Nelson who three years ago was one of the original players who helped started the girls’ program.

“It’s such a team effort, and I love them all,” said Nelson.

“I’m so excited for them,” said McCabe walking off the field with the state championship trophy in her hands.

“They worked so hard; they really wanted it especially the senior class. They made [the state championship] their goal, and I’m just thrilled they got it,” said McCabe, which included Anne Baker, Molly Goldberg, Aisling Madden, Georgia Parsons, Mariel Somers and Nelson.

Not only was the game the first ever state championship for the Girls’ (as well as two divisions of Boys’) it was a historic game as it was the first title game in the US sponsored by a state high school interscholastic association. It is hoped that the championships will spur other state associations to add rugby – the fastest growing high school and college sport in the US – to its list of varsity sports.

Not that Belmont made it easy on themselves to take the championship as the first 25 minutes found the Marauders’ digging a fairly deep hole for themselves as early mistakes and inability to stop the T-Hawks backs resulted in a quick 14-0 deficit. Algonquin’s senior fullback Kendall Scholl found herself turning the corner on Belmont’s defense to score a long distance try only four minutes into the game.

The match-up was following a familiar script of the previous two meetings between the teams – Belmont won 20-10 away and tied the T-Hawks 10-1o at Harris Field – in which Algonquin started out strong scoring the first try. 

For nearly the remainder of the half, Belmont had its back to the goal line. After one stellar defensive stance in which the Marauders stopped Algonquin for more than two minutes from within five meters, the T-Hawks pushed Belmont back so its big front line player Charlotte DiGovanni could fall forward with a disputed try as many saw the ball fall out of her hands before it was touched down with 11 minutes to play.

“We did not make it easy on ourselves, that is for sure,” said McCabe. “I think that first half we played a little afraid. We didn’t want to make mistakes, but we made a lot of mistakes.”

With time running down in the half, Algonquin would lose its best all-around player, senior Sam Dickie, to a shoulder injury. Soon after, Belmont would get the break they needed as sophomore fullback Gabriella Viale took the ball from 25 meters out and ran through the T-Hawk line for an uncontested try with no time on referee Kelly Craven’s watch to cut the lead to 14-7 at the half.

“I just saw a gap, and I took it,” said Viale.

McCabe said Belmont needed to take more chances in the final 35 minutes which the Marauders did, stealing a pair of critical scrums and advancing the ball within five meters of the goal 10 minutes into the half but lost possession to an infraction.

But the subsequent kick by Algonquin – a team can advance down the field by kicking it up the pitch and out of bounds – was caught by Belmont’s sophomore right wing Hannah Hlotyak who scampered up the sideline 20 meters. Less than a minute later, senior “8” Georgia Parsons powered through a slew of Algonquin players for Belmont’s second try.

“I told myself that I was going to score try, try to score more than one,” said Parsons, whose ankle was tightly wrapped after injuring it three days before the game. Parson – who was the varsity soccer goalkeeper in the fall – missed the conversion to bring the score to 14-12. 

Belmont continued to press Algonquin on both offense and defense as the T-Hawks tired considerably, unable to move the ball effectively against a Marauder defense which each player called out assignments. Many times Algonquin players could only hand off the ball as there was no room to maneuver.

On offense, junior scrum half Jessica Rosenstein – who takes the ball from the scrum and delivers it to the backs – was quarterbacking the offense with spot-on back passes while junior flanker Kailee Pellicane had a series of punishing runs while doing the dirty work of clearing out Algonquin players attempting to steal the ball after a Belmont runner was tackled. 

Up front, the forwards, lead by the senior Head Prop duo of Baker and Goldberg supported by sophomore Locks Grace Christensen and Samantha Dignan and flankers; senior Somers and Pellicane dominated the scrums and rucks which left the Algonquin front line exhausted for most of the second half.

With 17 minutes remaining, Belmont moved to its left where they found room to run. Sophomore Amanda Hanley took the ball on a 25-meter romp to inside five meters where junior Rachel Iler-Keniston picked up the ball and dove in for the try. The conversion from the acute angle failed to give Belmont a slim 17-14 lead.

Six minutes later, Algonquin came close to turning the table on Belmont as a quick restart saw a T-Hawk fullback break through an opening into the clear. With only open turf between her and the end zone, it appeared she was going in for a sure tying try when Viale ran her down with a game-saving tackle 15 meters from the goal line. 

“I saw the girl break away and I was like, ‘you’re no getting past me,’ and I went for it,” said Viale who competes in winter track. 

That would be as close Algonquin would come to scoring as Belmont’s fly backs began picking up large chunks of real estate while substitutes such as Heather Swanson contributed by making a critical steal from an Algonquin ruck. 

After the field clock had stopped at two minutes for what seemed to be 10 minutes and with Craven looking at her watch, Rosenstein kicked the ball out of touch after a penalty. It was then the final whistle blew, and after a few seconds of drained relief, the celebration began. Each player received a championship medal, and Nelson accepted the state championship trophy with the coaches. After photos of them with the trophy and banner, the entire team then ran through a “tunnel of honor” created by supporters and several members of the boys’ team who came to cheer the girls.

McCabe said for Belmont, the victory is vindication for the seniors who came out as sophomores to start what was then a fairly unknown sport for girls in the state. 

“For girls’ rugby, I hope this starts a trend., I hope more schools have girl rugby teams. I hope we see more really tough games like this. The fans were going crazy. It was a great game of rugby,” she said.

When asked what it was like winning a state championship, “it had not sunk in yet” said Nelson with a beaming smile and tears in her eyes.

Belmont Girls’ Rugby Prepares for Historic First-Ever State Finals Sat. June 10

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Photo: Preparing for history.

It’s two days before she will lead her team into the first-ever state Girls’ Rugby final and Belmont High Head Coach Kate McCabe is not particularly happy.

On Belmont High’s Harris Field, McCabe ordered the three dozen or so girls who were out practicing to perform 10 burpees, a quick penalty for not being ready to restart after a water break.

“You have two and a half hours here to prepare for the game,” said McCabe, a social studies teachers at the school as well as the coach who started the program three years ago with a handful of hopefuls who practiced in the mud as she taught them the game.

“Let’s not waste any time,” she said.

The team then got down to business, running through plays with a focus on tackling and protecting the ball.

McCabe and the squad are taking their undefeated season – three wins and a tie – and strong play with them as they enter the Endicott College football stadium at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 10 to take on rival Algonquin Regional High School for the third time with a state championship trophy as their goal.

The game – played between the two Boys’ title games – is special not just that it’s the first-ever state championship in rugby, it is also the first finals sanctioned by a state high school interscholastic association, a breakthrough that gives the sport a boost towards acceptance by high schools in Massachusetts and in other states.

“It means a lot for the program and I’m really proud for women’s rugby,” said McCabe last month.

For Sara Nelson, one of the first girls to go out for the team three years ago and is now the team’s sole captain, “it’s great that we get to represent the sport in the finals.”

Season-Ending Heartbreak: Belmont Baseball Falls in 10 to Braintree

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Photo: Belmont High Baseball 

Ugh!

It appeared that eight-seed Belmont High Baseball would finally do what no team could in the past two years; knock out two-time defending champions Braintree High School from the Super Eight baseball tournament.

Leading 4-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, Belmont took the field having just scored a pair of what appeared to be insurance runs and surviving a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth and now were three outs away from the monumental upset.

But a one-out three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning by Braintree’s centerfielder Jackson Duffy off Belmont reliever/catcher Cal Christofori tied the score at 4. 

And a single off Belmont’s righthander Max Meier by third base/reliever Brennan Quigley brought home catcher Alex Kennedy in the bottom of the 10th saw Braintree walk off with a dramatic 5-4 victory at Brockton’s Campanelli Stadium Wednesday night, June 7.

Before the ninth inning, everything appeared to have fallen into place for the Marauders to upend the Division 1 powerhouse. Just as it had done in the first game of the double-elimination playoffs for the elite eight baseball teams in the state against number 1 ranked St. John’s of Shrewsbury, Belmont kept the game close into the late innings against the Wamps.

For the second straight game, Belmont’s junior southpaw Nate Espelin started and kept the Marauders in the game through five innings. Espelin got out of tight spots in the first – bases loaded with one out – and second innings with a pair of strikeouts in each frame.

Braintree finally caught up to Espelin in the third on a sacrifice fly to grab a 1-0 lead.

Braintree’s pitcher Jack Andrews needed some good fielding plays to keep the game scoreless for the Marauders.

Espelin left the game with one out in the fifth with a man on second, giving the ball to his fellow junior Meier so escaped a bases-loaded predicament in the sixth. Belmont’s best shot at scoring came in the top of the 7th with Meier and Ryan Noone on second and third with one out. But Andrews got a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.

Tailing 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning, Belmont finally broke into the scoring column. Left fielder Connor Dacey singled, shortstop Steve Rizzuto sacrificed, and Christofori earned a walk. 

After cleanup batter first base Dennis Crowley drew a free pass, an exhausted Andrews left to be replaced by Quigley who got Meier to strikeout after 11 pitches.

Controversy soon erupted when pitch hitter Noah Riley was hit by a pitch, sending Dacey home. The Wamps players and coaches felt that Riley leaned into the pitch, but to no avail. Then an error by Braintree third base saw Christofori waltz in to give Belmont a 2-1 lead.

But Braintree nearly scored in the bottom of the inning as Meier hit two batters and walked the third. In came Christofori who struck out a pair and saw Kennedy hit a deep drive that sent right fielder Paul Ramsey to the wall for the third out. 

And when Crowley and Meier stroke back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the ninth, Belmont had a three-run lead, 4-1, ending the last of the 9th. 

But a dream season which saw Belmont come from behind to take its first Middlesex League title in more than a quarter century and be selected to participate in the top playoff tournament in the state came to an end sooner than anyone wanted it.

Belmont High Baseball Battles #1 St. John’s (S) Before Falling 3-1

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 Photo: Steve Rizzuto scoring Belmont’s lone run in a 3-1 defeat by number one St. John’s of Shrewsbury. 

The Boston Herald’s Danny Ventura‏, the region’s most prominent writer of high school sports, tweeted this week that it was “Too bad Belmont [Baseball] had to play the top-seed [St. John’s Shrewsbury in the first round of the MIAA Super Eight baseball playoffs], they should not have been the eighth seed in the first place.”
 
On Thursday, Belmont High Baseball proved Ventura correct when the Marauders kept the state’s consensus number 1 team in check for nearly the entire game, coming up just short in a 3-1 loss in the opening game of the elite eight tournament held in Shrewsbury, Thursday, June 1.
 
“It was a great game,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Jim Brown. “We knew it would be close; they had their D1 (Division 1 college prospect Ian Seymour), and we had our best [southpaw Nate Espelin] going. While [Espelin] was little shaky in the first inning, he settled down and [junior righthander Max Meier] closed out a strong game pitching.”
 
The nine-inning game (as opposed to the seven innings played during the regular high school season) was a tight affair. Espelin got the first two batters out in the first but three singles on top of a hit batsman resulted in two runs (RBIs to St. John’s’ Tom Mochella and Jack Fields) crossing the plate.
 
But if the Pioneers were expecting to walk over the eight seed, they would end up disappointed as Espelin, and Belmont found its bearings and kept the game within two through the middle innings. 
 
While the Marauders did make contact with some hard hit balls as second base Steve Rizzuto – going 2-4 as he continues with the hot late season bat – got to  Seymour in the first for a single while leadoff batter left fielder Connor Dacey flew deep to right, Belmont would have to wait to get their next two hits; in the fourth, a senior catcher Cal Christofori single (that was whipped out on a double play) and the fifth on a two-out single from designated hitter Ryan Noone.

“We just didn’t get enough timely hits when we needed them. But we swung a good bat and played great defense,” said Brown, noting the play from senior center fielder Bryan Goodwin who expertly handled the wide open range of the field’s outfield as its nearly 400 feet to the deep center field fence.

Belmont finally took the measure of Seymour in the top of the 6th as Rizzuto scored from first on a monster one-out gap double to deep center field by Christofori (2-4 in the game) who is batting a spectacular .750 in his last five games, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

But the Pioneers rallied in the bottom frame, scoring on a single, a walk and then a one-out single from right fielder Bailey Mikule to give the home squad a two-run cushion and to end Espelin’s standout performance with three strikeouts while giving three earned runs on seven singles. Meier finished the game with two scoreless innings striking out four of the seven batters he faced.

Seymour (eight strikeouts, one earned run on five hits) got out of his final jam in the eighth as he struck out Christofori for the final out with Rizzuto on first.

Next up for Belmont is a losers bracket game vs. Braintree which has been pushed back from Monday to Thursday due to the rainy weather. The game is now scheduled at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, home of the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England, on Thursday, June 8 at 7 p.m. The stadium’s address is 700 Belmont St. (easy to remember).

Braintree is the two-time defending state champion that narrowly lost to Boston College High, 3-2, in its opening round game.

“Anyone you play in this tournament is going to be great. [Braintree] could have their number one pitcher come back so we get a scouting report on them and get ready,” said Brown.

Krafian Adds Hurdle Crown at All State; Perkins PRs in 400 for 2nd [VIDEO]

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Photo: Belmont’s Anoush Krafian out leans Plymouth North’s Madelyn Sessler to win the 100 meters hurdles state championship.

Back in February, Belmont High School’s track star Anoush Krafian was nipped at the line of the 55-meter hurdles in the Division 3 state championships, beaten by Hopkinton High’s Caitlyn Halloran by one-one hundredth of a second.

“I got beat on the lean,” said Krafian.

Fast forward to Saturday, June 3, at the Massachusetts All-State Championships at Bridgewater State University and once again, Krafian found herself involved in a race where the margin between winning and finishing second would be by the tightest difference.

 

But this time, it was Krafian who ran away with the victory.

In the most dynamic race of the meet, Krafian ran down defending champion Plymouth South senior Madelyn Sessler over the final three hurdles to capture the state title by, yes, one-one hundredth of a second, 14.64 seconds to 14.65.

“The second half of my race is always better than my first,” said Krafian. And it had to be as the Belmont trackster trailed Sessler by more than a step midway through the race. In the event that combines sprinter speed with the technical ability to smoothly clear ten hurdles, making up any deficit increases the likelihood of a loss of form that results in slamming into the hurdles.

But Krafian kept her cool and squeezed by Sessler for the narrowest of victories, ending a day where she twice smashed her own personal best (and school record) of 14.95 by nearly a third of a second, having run a PR of 14.87 in the qualifying round.

“I didn’t panic because I knew I could catch her,” she said. “I turned it on at the end.”

Krafian’s hurdle title was her second of the All-State meet, as she won the five-event pentathlon on Thursday.

Krafian’s time qualified to compete in the six-state 72nd Annual New England Interscholastic Outdoor Track & Field Championship this Saturday, June 10, at Norwell High School where she will be joined by her Belmont teammate Calvin Perkins. The junior took a half second off his personal best in the 400 meters dipping below 49 seconds to take second in 48.65 behind defending New England champion Rodney Agyare-May of Burncoat High of Worcester who strode home in 48.34.

The junior took a half second off his personal best in the 400 meters dipping below 49 seconds to take second in 48.65 behind defending New England champion Rodney Agyare-May of Burncoat High of Worcester who strode home in 48.34.

“Maybe next year,” said Perkins. “It was a good race.” 

At the New Englands Krafian will compete against meet favorite senior Bridget Charavalle of Danbury, Conn. (who has committed to run for Boston University) who ran a season’s best 14.23 at the Connecticut state championships over the weekend. Perkins will again be up against Agyare-May along with favorite Manchester, Conn. junior Jevin Frett who has a personal best of 48.08.

Belmont relay quartets came to the All-State meet to battle in the passing zones and crowded starts with the Girls’ 4×400 crossed the line in 9th in 4 minutes 4.39 seconds; the Girls’ 4×800 in 23rd in 10:00.20; the Boys’ 4×800 in 8:14.78 for (once again) 23rd and the Boys’ 4×400 in 3:27.26 for 13th.

Sweet! Krafian Crowned State Champion Winning All-State Pentathlon

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Photo: Anoush Krafian.

Her first name means “sweet” in Armenian and in the state finals of the multi-event pentathlon held Thursday, June 1, Belmont High junior track star Anoush Krafian strung together a quintet of top-flight results that produced the sweetest of outcomes, a Massachusetts state championship.

At Bridgewater State University, the long-time standout track performer – she still co-holds the state middle school high jump record – beat her rivals and destroying the previous five-event top mark set last year by a whopping 215 points as she posted 3,243 points. Fellow Junior Natalie Marshall of Newton North (3,195 points) and Tewksbury High Senior Lauren Polimeno (3,184) finished second and third while the defending champion, Hopkinton junior Caitlyn Halloran, came in fourth.

Krafian’s total is the fifth-best mark set by a high school athlete in the US so far this outdoor season.

The 11th-grader was leading the competition after four events with the championship on the line with Krafian facing her most challenging event, the 800 meters. Tewksbury’s Polimeno and Halloran of Hopkinton (who defeated Krafian in the Division 3 championships last week) were expected to complete the race in about 2 minutes and 20 seconds, more than 18 seconds in front of the Belmont track star’s best time of 2:38.37 set last week, a gap that could have seen Krafian fall from first to third – or worse.

But Krafian came through spectacularly, setting a new personal record by eight seconds, 2:30.07, negating Polimeno (2:19.96) and Halloran (2:20.60) own best times over the distance. 

In addition to the 800, Krafian also achieved her best marks in the shot put (26 feet 5.5-inches), and high jumped over five feet (5-feet, 3.25 inches) while long jumping 16 feet, 5.75 inches.

Krafian started the day in her best event, the 100-meter hurdles, finishing first in 15.04 second, obliterating the old mark by nearly a full second while garnering 836 points, the highest individual event total by any athlete on Thursday.

Krafian will be seeking more state championships this weekend. On Saturday, she will return to Bridgewater to compete in the individual long jump and the 100 hurdles where she is a co-favorite with senior Madelyn Sessler of Plymouth South and Kristen Hohenstein of Chelmsford. 

Girls’ Rugby In State Finals Sat. June 10; Boy Ruggers in Semis

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Photo: The Belmont High Girls’ Rugby team in action.

The teams were known for weeks and now they have a date to battle it out for the state crown as the number one seed Belmont High Girls’ Rugby (3-0-1) takes on Algonquin Regional (2-1-1) for the first-ever MIAA Girls’ Rugby state championship on Saturday, June 10 at Endicott College in Beverly. 

The time of the historic match will occur on the same day as the first MIAA Boys’ Rugby title contests in Division 1 and Division 2. According to the MIAA, the game schedule will likely be 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., the final schedule to be determined early next week.

The Belmont Girls’ have met Algonquin twice this year, drawing 12-12 at Belmont and then defeating the T-hawks, 20-10, on May 17.

Belmont High Boys’ have made the semi-finals finishing the regular season at 5-2, 4-2 in the league. The only public school in the final four, the third seed Marauders will visit second-seed St. John’s Prep of Danvers at a date to be determined. Belmont lost at St. John’s, 19-10, in May. 

 

Super Belmont: Marauder Baseball in Elite Eight State Finals

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Photo: The Marauders with the silverware.

After defeating one-loss Lynnfield High, 5-2, to defend its Brendan Grant Tournament title on Saturday, May 27, the 17-3 Belmont High Baseball team was eager to discover Tuesday what seed they would receive in the upcoming Division 2 North sectional playoffs.

But the call they got from the MIAA – the organization that oversees high school sports in Massachusetts – came a day early with news that came as a surprise not just to the Marauders but to many highly touted Bay State teams.

On Monday, the selection committee of the Baseball “Super 8” playoffs made Belmont the eighth and final squad selected to compete in the elite tournament with seven of the best teams in the state.

“I’m very happy for the seniors, they’ve earned it,” said Belmont’s long-time head coach Jim Brown in the Boston Herald.

The reward for Belmont being selected to play with the big kids is a first-round meeting Wednesday, May 31 against the consensus number one team in the state, 19-3 St. John’s Shrewsbury. The game will be played in the central Massachusetts town that straddles Worcester at 4 p.m.

Belmont leapfrogged over teams such as 19-1 Lynn Classical as well as Methuen and Andover which pundits believed had the edge over the Marauders, a Division 2 squad which has not faced any of the other seven teams in the playoffs this season.

While familiar to hockey, the double-elimination Super Eight playoff is a recent addition to the state tournament, first introduced in 2014 with Newton North taking the title. The past two years Braintree has won the crown.

Belmont Juniors Krafian, Perkins Take Home EMass Division 3 Track Titles

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Photo: Belmont High Anoush Krafian in action earlier this outdoor season.

A pair of Belmont High juniors will be heading to this week’s All-State Meet as Eastern Mass Division 3 champions as Anoush Krafian and Calvin Perkins sprinted home to take individual victories on Sunday, May 28 at Burlington High School.

Krafian cruised to the 100-meter hurdles title in 15.33 seconds, beating Pembroke High senior Julieanne Watts by nearly half-a-second.

Perkins powered to an impressive 49.13 to defeat Burlington High senior Ben Piotti by more than half-a-second on his home track. The time was just a second back from the EMass D3 record of 48.1.

Belmont High junior Calvin Perkins during the 2016 Cross Country season.

It’s been a busy week for Krafian who on Thursday, May 18 shattered the school’s 100 meter hurdles record (which she already held) with a 14.95 second effort during the Division 3 state Pentathlon, a five-event competition that includes the 100 meter hurdles, the long jump, the shot put, 800 meters and high jump. The time broke the best-ever time in the hurdles portion of the event by more than a second.

At the All-State meet, Krafian will meet the only other athlete under 15 seconds in the hurdles, Plymouth South’s senior Madelyn Sessler who has run 14.91. 

Krafian placed second in the one-day pentathlon with a personal best of 3,040 points, behind the defending champion Hopkinton junior Caitlyn Halloran’s 3,166 points. During the events, Krafian also achieved her best marks in the shot put (26 feet 3.75-inches) and the 800 meters, 2:38.37. 

Not that she isn’t busy enough, on Sunday, Krafian took 5th place in the long jump, leaping 17 feet, 6 1/2 inches.

In addition to his victory, Perkins joined his teammates junior Max Serrano-Wu, senior Aidan Carey and junior Bryan Huang to lead off the 4×400 relay to a second-place performance in 3 minutes and 28.41 seconds behind winners Pembroke which broke the tape in 3:26.41 

Belmont’s tradition of strong relay squads continue as the girls’ 4×400 team of senior Danielle Kelly, junior Emily Duffy, freshman Soleil Tseng and senior Julia Cella placed third with a 4:06.70 effort behind Hopkinton and Tewksbury while the girls’ 4×800 of freshman Olivia Zarzycki, junior Alexa Sabatino, frosh Madeline Kitch and senior Alexandra Bailey broke the 10 minute barrier with a 9:53.51 to finish an impressive 4th.

Over on the boys’ side, Belmont’s 4×800 team of junior Jason Berger, junior Zach Tseng, senior Adam Cronin and junior James Kitch kicked it to the line in 8:17.29 in 4th. 

Also scoring for Belmont were junior Alexa Sabatino placing 7th in the mile (5:22.90) while 9th-grade sprinter Soleil Tseng took 5th in the 400 meters just a tad over the one-minute (1:00.11) mark for the one lap.

Belmont girls’ was 7th in the team event with 39 points with the boys’ in 10th with 23 points.

26 Years In The Making: Belmont Baseball Captures League Title With Victory Over Reading

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Photo: Belmont High’s Max Meier strikes out the final batter of the game for Belmont’s 6-4 victory over Reading.

The wait is over.

Twenty-six years since winning its last league title, Belmont High Baseball will hoist the 2017 Middlesex League Liberty Division championship banner on the wall of the Wenner Field House after the Marauders captured its first league pennant since 1991 with a hard-fought 6-4 victory over defending champions Reading Memorial High with a combination of clutch late-inning hitting and a gutsy pitching performance by the team’s lefthanded ace.

“How about that league championship?!” asked long-time Head Coach Jim Brown to his ecstatic players as the speakers blasted a new version of King Harvest’s 70’s classic “Dancing in the Moonlight.”

“You had a goal right from the beginning of the season. And you accomplished it. You made this town proud,” Brown told the players.

The team – 16-3 overall and 13-3 in the league – will end the regular season taking on one-loss Division 3 leading Lynnfield (17-1) on Friday, May 26 at 3:45 p.m. at “The Grant.” The Marauders will then finish the season hosting The Brendan Grant Tournament later in the week.

The Marauders’ secured the victory with a clutch two-out, two run rally that gave junior starter Nate Espelin the margin he needed to hold on for his sixth win with a herculean 119 pitch performance over 6 1/3 innings.

“I walked too many people, but I didn’t have to worry about striking out people because we made the defensive plays,” said the southpaw, who raised his record to 6-1.

While Espelin could not match his high teen strikeout numbers that he produced against Wilmington, Lexington and Reading the first time he faced them – a 1-0 9-inning loss – he relied on his curveball “which worked a little better today.”

On Wednesday, the Marauders’ bats were working as the top four of the order – junior leftfielder Connor Dacey, junior shortstop Steve Rizzuto, catcher Cal Christofori and junior first base Dennis Crowley – went a collective 8 for 13 with two doubles (both by Christofori) and 5 RBIs.

“I think I’ve seen the ball well lately. It’s just looking bigger and getting a good piece of it and driving it the other way [to right field],” said Crowley.

Belmont got off the mark quickly against Reading’s All-Star starter Corey DiLoreto in the first with a walk, a fielder’s choice and two singles with Crowley punching a single through the infield to bring home Rizzuto. It appeared the Marauders would increase the lead as a sacrifice fly by junior Ryan Noone sent Christofori home, but the plate umpire called the senior captain out for leaving third early.

Espelin had already thrown 40 pitches in the top of the third when he walked Reading’s Joe Bradley to bring up DiLoreto who pulverized an Espelin offering over the deepest part of the center field fence (352 feet) to give Reading its only lead of the game, 2-1. The inning ended with Rizzuto going deep in the hole to throw out the batter by half-a-step.

The Marauders swiftly recaptured the lead in the bottom of the frame, starting with Rizzuto (1-3) waiting on a slow curve to belt it between first and second for a single. Christofori (3-3 with a walk) then smashed a fastball into the gap between center and left that one-hopped the fence for a ground-rule double.

“[Christofori’s] enthusiasm and passion today rubbed off on the entire team,” said Brown. 

Crowley followed by taking a full-count pitch into center for a single, bringing in Rizzuto to tie the score. Junior right fielder/pitcher Max Meier continued the hitting onslaught with his own single to send Christofori across the plate. The Marauders’ final run of the inning came when Crowley scampered home on a Bryan Goodwin sacrifice fly, upping the lead to 4-2.

The title was sealed with two down in the sixth when Reading took out DiLoreto. Belmont quickly pounced on reliever Mike Rainone loading the bases on a Conner Dacey single and walks to Rizzuto and Christofori.

Dennis completed his big day at the plate battling back from a two-stroke deficit to rocket a 2-2 pitch into center to bring in Dacey and Rizzuto to double Belmont’s lead from two to four at 6-2.

“He got me down 0-2 on a pitch I thought was a little low. But what are you going to do? I took the next two pitches to even it up then got a pitch I liked and ripped it,” said Crowley who drove in half the team’s runs and scored once.

“This team knows what to do with the stick [bat] and are selective with their pitches. They work at it,” said Brown.

Those final runs were critical as Reading staged its own late rally in the top of the 7th. DiLoreto walked, and after a sacrifice bunt, consecutive infield errors and a Ben Fischer single that dropped in front of Goodwin saw the Rockets cut the lead in half to 6-4 with the go-ahead run at the plate.

“I was making sure [the athletic trainer] had the heart defibrillator ready because I didn’t know if I could take it,” said Brown.

With nearly 120 pitches in the book, Brown elected to pull Espelin for junior righthander Meier. With Rockets at the corner, Meier relied on his fastball to strikeout the 8 and 9 batters; the final punch out caught the batter looking.

After the celebrations which included running through a “victory tunnel” set up by the Boys’ Rugby team and a bucket of water over Brown’s head, the coach again heaped praise on his team and the eight seniors.

“This is the best group of kids I’ve coached. They know how to battle for the entire game, the entire season,” said Brown.