by Jeff Sybertz

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School baseball team had another strong regular season, going 16-3 and winning the DCL for the eighth consecutive year.
The second half of the regular season was marked by dramatic wins and heartbreaking home losses to Westford Academy and Tyngsboro. In both the wins and losses, someone different, whether it be a sophomore, junior, or senior, was able to step his game up and give the Warriors a fighting chance.
On April 30th, the team played its first game against Tyngsboro, the newest member of the DCL. Last year, Tyngsboro made it to the Division III state semifinals with almost the same team that they had this year so L-S knew they were in for a great game. Senior ace Sam Finn took the mound and, despite some first inning struggles, was able to throw seven strong innings, giving up one run while striking out eight. The offense also looked very strong as both Finn and junior catcher Garrett Moore had multi-hit and multi-RBI games with L-S winning 9-1.
Finn and Moore, along with captains Jason Roth, Mark Hogan, and Justin Quinn, were the biggest offensive contributors throughout the year.
After the strong victory over Tyngsboro, Quinn and Hogan led the team to a 9-7 victory over Newton South on May 1st in their second home game of the season.
In six of their next seven games, the Warriors went into extra innings or won in their final at bat. The team defeated Wayland (3-2), Bedford (3-2), Weston (3-2), Boston Latin (5-4), and Acton-Boxboro (4-3) in walk off fashion thanks to strong pitching and timely hitting.
Finn led the pitching staff, but fellow seniors Jordan McCarthy and Mark Robson, juniors Ryan Wood, Mike Antonellis, Matt Antonellis, and Charlie DeFrancesco have also made immense contributions.
In the unprecedented stretch of dramatic finishes, L-S lost only one game, to fellow DCL powerhouse Westford Academy on May 5th. In their first meeting in Westford, L-S took the game 6-5 in a nail biter and the game at L-S proved just as dramatic. Finn took the mound and had a solid start, going 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and seven hits while striking out four and walking one. Finn left with the lead but the bullpen could not close out the game. Senior Jordan McCarthy came in and gave up a run in the seventh to tie the game, 5-5. However, in the bottom of the seventh, With Roth, Quinn, and Hogan up to bat, L-S expected they were in for another dramatic victory. Westford ace, Derek Klinka, however, was able to retire the three in order.
In the top of the eighth inning, McCarthy gave up a hit, hit a batter and walked another to load the bases. Mike Antonellis came in relief and gave up a two-run single up the middle as Westford took the lead and the win 7-5.
On May 19th L-S had a chance to clinch the DCL championship for the eighth consecutive year in a game against Newton South. With the title on the line, the team played every pitch with intensity. Finn, as usual, was dominant on the mound, going five innings and striking out 11 as L-S won 10-0, earning their eighth consecutive DCL title.
In a little bit of a let down, the Warriors lost their final home game of the season against Tyngsboro, 12-1 on May 21st.
The loss was demoralizing but after a strong practice the next day, L-S was ready for the Fourth Annual Metrowest Baseball Classic tournament in Natick. The tournament features strong competition from four different conferences throughout the Metrowest and was a good warm up for the state tournament.
The Warriors took the first game against Hopkinton, 9-3. Wood threw seven innings, giving up three runs while striking out five. The team got their runs thanks to a nine run third inning in which Roth had three RBIs and sophomore Erik Watkins had a double and two RBIs.
“We were really in the zone that inning,” said Watkins, “Ryan [Wood] was throwing really well and we needed to pick him up at the plate. Once we got those runs, we were able to just play baseball and not worry about anything else.”
The following night, the Warriors took on Natick in the championship game. Finn got the start but had trouble early and was replaced by Mark Robson after just 2/3 of an inning. Robson was able to get out of the first inning giving up only one run on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom half of the inning, Hogan walked and then Roth blasted a two-run home run over the right field fence. Roth, the tournament MVP, had five RBI in the two games and played excellent defense at first base.
Due to Finn’s early struggles, a platoon of pitchers was able to come up big and shut down Natick. Robson, McCarthy, and DeFrancesco all threw shutout relief and Finn was able to reenter and finish out the game on the mound.
Hogan smacked an RBI single in the fifth for an insurance run and the Warriors won the Metrowest Baseball Classic for the second consecutive year, 4-1.
“This tournament always features some of the top teams in the state,” said Roth. “The fact that we played well shows that we do have the talent to have a strong tournament run.  We still have a lot of work to do but we are on the right track.”
However, facing Lowell in the first round, L-S lost 10-9 in a nail-biter. Abundant errors and lack of offense was what ultimately undid the Warriors.
After ending their season earlier than they had anticipated, L-S baseball players plan on working hard through the off-season to recapture the state title next year.