GRANBY — In the past, a loss in the Western Mass. tournament meant a team’s season was over. This year, the stakes are a little bit different – the Western Mass. tournament is separate from the MIAA tourney, which meant that when the Granby baseball team dropped the Class D championship to Pioneer last week, their postseason was just getting started.
“The main thing was just forgetting about it. There’s still more baseball to be played,” Granby’s Ryan Gaughan said on getting past the loss. “(It was) just putting that behind us and getting ready to make a good run here in the state tournament.”
The No. 10 Rams did just that, getting their bats going in the third inning on Monday en route to a decisive 8-0 shutout victory against No. 23 Blue Hills in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 32. The victory earned Granby a spot in the Sweet 16, where it’ll hit the road to face No. 7 Bourne on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Leading 2-0 into the bottom of the third, the top of the Rams’ lineup was unstoppable against Blue Hills starting pitcher Cody Jones. Gaughan beat a throw to first for a single then stole second before Ray Toth drove him home on a double. Toth’s twin brother Michael singled and stole second during Collin Kennedy’s at bat, and both Toths made it home on an error that landed Kennedy on second after an errant throw past the first baseman.
“It was really good. We needed that,” Gaughan said. “Like coach was saying, we just needed one breakthrough run to get us going and the third inning did exactly that.”
After Kennedy hit second, Jones was pulled and replaced with Tristan Camarra. Jones allowed five hits in two innings of work, striking out two batters and allowing one walk. But by that point, the damage was done; the Rams scored twice more in the third to make it 8-0, a number that would stand for the rest of the game. The hosts finished with six hits – two each from Gaughan and Michael Toth, and one each from Ray Toth and Jonathan Santiago.
“I’m not worried about our defense or pitching. It’s more of just sometimes our bats are good, sometimes they’re bad,” Michael Toth said. “We’ve just got to stay consistent with it, which we did today.”
Though the third inning was when the fireworks started for Granby, it also got to work early in the first. Gaughan and Michael Toth both doubled and eventually plated to make it 2-0 early. During that inning, they also each stole third, and Toth made it home on a ball that slipped past the catcher. By the end of the game, the Rams had swiped seven total bases and kept the Warriors stranded on the basepaths.
“In general we certainly liked the third inning offensively, we got guys to run some and we got some key hits there. But after that, you get a big lead (and) the energy kind of died between both teams. That was the one thing I didn’t care for, seeing the lack of energy,” Granby head coach Jim Woods said. “But Collin pitched great from there on out, really only one or two guys reached base after that. So he set the tone.”
Kennedy went the distance on the mound for Granby, recording nine strikeouts and allowing just three hits and two walks in seven innings. He’s also one of seven seniors on the team that have relied on their experience throughout the entirety of the season. Regardless of what happens next for the Rams, it’s a group that Woods will miss once their season finally comes to a close.
“I’ll miss them one way or the other. It’s great, they’re great kids – the whole team’s great, a good group of kids,” Woods said. “I’m just hoping we can continue on as long as we can.”