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SUDBURY, Mass. -- It was a pitcher’s duel from beginning to end, and ultimately a clutch walk-off single from Lincoln-Sudbury senior Brian Carroll was the difference, giving the Warriors (6-4) a 2-1 win over third-ranked BC High (7-2).

Junior Owen Bautze, in his second start of the year, got the win for Lincoln-Sudbury, scattering three hits in seven innings pitched. BC High’s one run came by way of a home run by leadoff hitter Dan Dougherty (2-for-4) in the third inning.

“BC High--they can always swing the bats. Last year they put a quick eight runs on us. [Owen] pitched phenomenal for seven straight innings," Carroll said in praise of his teammate. "He came out against a very good team and performed well."

Lincoln-Sudbury coach Kirk Fredericks echoed his senior’s remarks on Bautze, pointing out Bautze’s gradual improvement in terms of his mentality on the mound.

“It’s all about getting better," Fredericks said. "Earlier in the year if he gives up a home run it would have affected him for the next couple batters. Here he gives up a home run, he comes right back, and he does a nice job."

Following Dougherty’s home run in the third, the Warriors come back in the fourth with a run of their own. Sid Warrenbrand hit a single up the middle to score Ian Kinney and tie the ballgame at one.

“We really worked on two strike hitting, it showed up today," Carroll said. "And working on keeping the ball on the ground, hopefully to get it through holes."

From there on out, Bautze and BC High starter Dan Cobban dominated the tempo of the game. Cobban avoided any jams until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Shane Sefton started off the inning with a base hit. Bautze bunted to the first base side soon after, and Cobban bobbled the ball before he could get a decent toss over to first.

With runners on first and second and no outs, Fredericks made the decision to pinch-hit Kieran Pathak. The move paid dividends, as Pathak’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third.

The next batter, Dylan DeFlorio, was intentionally walked—bringing up Carroll with the bases loaded. Carroll wasted no time, hitting a line drive up the middle on the first pitch he saw to win the game.

“The whole game I was seeing fastballs, so I just wanted to be aggressive at the plate and I didn’t want to get down in the count," Carroll said. "First ball I saw, I took a hack at it, and got up lucky for a single."

Fredericks added, on Carroll’s final at-bat, “That’s our best player, they put our best player at the plate. So if we’re going to beat BC High, it’s going to be with our best player. He gave us the best shot, got into one and got a nice pitch to hit.”

Fredericks admitted he was skeptical on how his team would come to perform, saying he kicked them off the field during pre-game for a lack of effort.

“There are some games we’ve executed and some games we haven’t," he said. "Today we had to kick them off the field. They came with a horrible attitude, a horrible effort [before the game]. On their own, wherever they went for a half an hour, they found it, figured it out, and came and matched BC High,” the coach said after the game."

He also sent out a challenge to his team after the game. A relatively young, but talented squad, Lincoln-Sudbury has taken its’ lumps this year, and Fredericks wants to see a more consistent effort from his squad from here on out.

“We worry about trying to get better, I tell them all the time that it’s not about the result, it’s about trying to get better. We got better today, but, we got better against Westford and then we laid an egg the next day against [Acton-Boxborough],” Fredericks said.

"So we’ll see how we do against Waltham, will we be two steps forward one step back again? Or will we take two more steps?”

CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Norm Walsh thoroughly understands the importance of depth. The longtime BC High head coach is cognizant of the fact that you can never have enough of it when the situation calls for it.

On Friday, Walsh summoned two players from his deep bench who, in turn, performed remarkably in helping lift the Eagles to a thrilling 4-2 extra-inning victory over Chelmsford at Ayotte Field.

With his starter Zach Dunphy having already thrown 75 pitches in just 2 2/3 innings, and the season still in its early-stages, Walsh needed save his senior’s arm for the stretch run. Senior reliever Dan Cobban was brought in with his club trailing 2-1. For the remainder of the afternoon, Cobban was nothing short of brilliant in his 6-1/3 innings, allowing no hits and striking out five. The righty did his part, keeping BC High within striking distance until the offense flurried late.

“I just went out there throwing strikes and I knew my team could come back and get this,” said Cobban. “As long as I kept them in the game I knew we could win it. We really needed this after our loss to St. John’s Prep (6-5 on Wednesday). We had to get a bounce-back win and what better way to get it.”

After the Lions plated a pair of runs against Dunphy, Cobban came in and stifled Chelmsford the rest of the way with a mix of fastballs, curves and change ups.

“Cobban was just unbelievable,” Walsh said. “He completely shut them down by hitting his spots and keeping the ball down for the most part. He was simply outstanding.”

In spite of Cobban’s heroics on the mound, the Eagles were clinging to life support, down by a run with two out and no one on in the seventh inning. But good teams always seem to find way to come through and BC High (6-1) did just that.

Chelmsford pitcher Andrew Knightly, getting his first start of the year on the hill, was equally impressive. The senior limited the Eagles to a solo run on just two hits through his first six innings of work.

But in the seventh things changed dramatically. BC High senior Tommy Landry led off the frame by singling to left. Walsh had Nick Valicenti pinch-run for Landry. Valicenti advanced to second on a ground out and, following a botched pickoff attempt, took off for third. Lions centerfielder Tommy Bishop made a perfect throw to third baseman Conor Barry, who appeared to apply the tag on Valicenti just before the junior reached base. However, umpires called Valicenti safe.

Still in control, Knightly induced Sean Webster to pop out on the infield for the second out. Hoping for a miracle, Walsh opted to send out junior Andrew Jaehnig from the bench to pinch hit. The strategy worked to perfection as Jaehnig drove a Knightly outside fastball to right for a single to score Valicenti and even things at 2-2.

Knightly recorded the next out to avoid any further damage. But after Chelmsford failed to score in the bottom of the frame, Knightly, showing signs of fatigue, came out for the eighth and promptly issued a walk to No. 9 batter Nick Petchell. Lions head coach Mike O’Keefe made the decision to bring relief pitcher Joe St. Hilaire in.

“Andrew pitched a fabulous game for us today,” said O’Keefe, his team dropping to 5-3. “He’s a true pitcher who uses all of his pitches and changes speeds. He’s not an overly intimidating presence on the mound but once you get up to the plate you realize how quick he is. He never beats himself. Every time he pitches he gives you a battle. After today he deserves to get some more starts for us. I’m very proud of the performance he gave us.”

After Petchell was thrown out at second on a steal attempt, Hilaire surrendered a double to Dan Dougherty. But the senior managed to escape further trouble by and got out of the inning unscathed.

In the top of the ninth, however, he wasn’t as fortunate. Hilaire set down the Eagles’ first two batters with ease before Jaehnig singled to keep the inning alive. Luke Catarius followed with a long double to left plating Jaehnig and give the Eagles a 3-2 advantage. Billy Mitchell, pinch-running for Catarius, would later came around to score on Dougherty’s ground single to right.

“After our loss to St. John’s Prep on Wednesday it took us a while to get our act in gear," said Walsh. “Their pitcher did a very nice job keeping us off-balanced. It was getting somewhat frustrating but we were able to hang in there. Besides Cobban, Jaehnig was also unbelievable today. His hit ties it for us and later on he scores the winning run."

In the bottom of the inning, Cobban allowed a lead off walk before punching out the next three Lions batters to earn the victory.

Ryan Tufts put BC High ahead 1-0 in the first after stroking a Knightly fastball over the left field wall. But Chelmsford knotted things in the bottom of the inning courtesy of an opposite field RBI single from Mike Rosa. The Lions would take the lead in the third. Mike DeDonato tripled and scored moments later after Eagles left fielder Mike Roberts failed to corral Russell Olive’s hard liner.

“Give BC High credit,” O’Keefe said. “They’re a very good team and very well-coached. We hung with them to the end but it just didn’t work our way today. BC High will be in contention throughout the year but I truly believe we proved that we can play with them.”

MALDEN, Mass. -- As far as league openers go, you can't get much better than Ryan Tufts' night.

Beneath the lights Monday night at Maplewood Park, the Virginia Tech-bound third baseman shone his brightest for Boston College High when it mattered most, in the Eagles' Catholic Conference opener against host Malden Catholic. Facing fireballing MC sophomore reliever Austin Batchelor with one out in the top of the seventh, tied 1-1, Tufts sat fastball and didn't have to wait long to get his pitch.

Tufts blasted one deep to center, a ball that was eventually dropped but scored Dan Dougherty from third to make it 2-1. The Eagles then sealed it in the final frame with a double play, to improve to 3-0 and 1-0 in the conference.

"He's clutch, he can hit anybody," Eagles coach Norm Walsh said. "In fact, that ball might have been a little up and out of the strike zone, but he's got such talent that he just did the job for us. That was one fantastic baseball game."

Said Tufts of seeing the drop, "I was pumped. Any time you can get an extra baserunner there, it's really big, especially when we're trying push across a few runs."

BC High took the initial 1-0 lead in the top of the second with some smart baserunning from Ryan Tropeano. After reaching first on a fielder's choice and stealing second, the sophomore scampered home after the second baseman dropped the ball trying to tag out Sean Webster trying to steal second.

MC fired back in the bottom of the fifth with a dramatic shot from pinch hitter Paul Garozzo. Facing a full count with two outs and a runner at third -- Cam Lanzilli, who led the inning off with a triple -- Garozzo sliced one just inside the foul line down first base for an RBI triple and tie ball game.

McDonald grins and bears it: Clearly, there are divided schools of thought amongst MIAA coaches as to how to handle pitchers in the first month of the season, when temperatures are still cold and arms are still getting broken in after a winter with limited live throwing.

Some like to keep starters regimented around 60 to 70 pitches, approaching the subject like a faberge egg; then there are those like Walsh, who let senior righthander Tommy McDonald throw into triple-digits, watched as McDonald took a ball off his left knee trying to bare-hand a comebacker in the final frame, and said, "You can't get mad at him though, because he's just so competitive."

"He wanted to make that play," Walsh said. "I think [second baseman] Jake [Marotta] would have had it, but he's such a competitor. You can't fault him for that."

Said McDonald, "I had the adrenaline running, it didn't even faze me. I'm just glad I stopped the ball from going into centerfield."

McDonald, a UMass commit, threw close to 115 pitches in a complete-game effort, striking out seven and walking none while scattering five hits and allowing the one earned run.

"At this point, he's thrown a bunch of bullpens in the preseason," Walsh said when asked about pitch count. "He's not going to start again for eight or nine days. He was throwing strikes, he was pounding the zone. I talked to [catcher] Luke [Catarius], Luke said he was really throwing the ball well still, so at this point no. He was probably up around 115 or so, and that's reasonable for him. He's our horse."

It's easy to see why the reigns are a little looser on McDonald. The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder demonstrates good command of his fastball, locating it around the zone, and doesn't labor on the mound. He generates much of his power from his legs, and is the kind of type-A personality you want as a starting pitcher -- asked how he'd characterize himself, he laughed, "I'm kind of a jerk out there...I don't want to give anything up."

Asked how he felt after racking up a high pitch count this early, McDonald said he felt fine.

"I was going into this thinking four or five innings, and leaving the rest for the bullpen," he said. "But my adrenaline was going and I felt in mid-season form. I just feel really good right now."

Seamless transition: Forgive the Eagles if they've been spoiled the previous three seasons with Bobby Melley behind the plate. The UConn freshman catcher was one of the state's most feared hitters a season ago, hitting .370/.557/.685 totals with 13 RBI and drawing 22 walks to earn a spot on ESPN Boston's All-State Team.

But it looks like the equally-bulky Catarius, bound for Princeton University as a linebacker at a burly 6-foot and 230 pounds, will keep everyone comfortable despite his limited varsity experience. Catarius batted .267 a year ago in just 17 plate appearances.

Confidence around Catarius is apparent immediately.

"We didn't lose anything, he [Catarius] picked up right where Melley was coming back from," McDonald said. "Good presence behind the plate, good presence in the dugout, good presence with everything...He knows where I like to throw [and] where, inside, outside. He knows when to go out there, when I'm having a tough time."

Said Walsh, "[Luke] is a really tough, competitive kid. He's the heart and soul. He's got that fire to him."

Velozo battles: In five complete innings of work, senior lefty Joe Velozo worked his way out of jam after jam on the mound for MC. In the third, he retired the first two batters (K, 6-4) then loaded the bases up, then put out his own flames with some high heat to Tom Russo, getting him swinging up and out of the zone.

The next inning, he evaded trouble again thanks to a 3-2 double play from first baseman Steve Passatempo to Batchelor. Passatempo dove to his left for an unassisted out at first, then fired home to Batchelor, who made a terrific block at the plate for a tag on Tropeano. In his last go-around, the fifth, he struck out the first two batters then allowed batters to reach second and third before ringing up Russo again to end the scoring chance.

Velozo finished with six strikeouts and scattered six hits while walking three. Nick George relieved him in the sixth, followed by Batchelor in the seventh.

"Very little fazes him," MC head coach Pat Driscoll said of Velozo. "I think he likes being in the big pressure situations. He wants to be that guy in that situation, making the pitches and getting his team back in there to hit."

Middleborough native Tyler Horan built his reputation as a winner during his time at Boston College High, helping the Eagles capture back-to-back state titles in baseball (2008-09) and leading them to a Division 1 Eastern Mass. Super Bowl title in 2008. After a redshirt season with Virginia Tech in 2010, he's been demonstrating more of that explosive power out of the batter's box he showed as a raw 16-year-old.

This past spring, Horan hit .282/.400/.585 totals in 54 games in left field for the Hokies, ranking fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in on-base percentage. He led the Hokies in RBI (41) and home runs (15) and ranked second in total bases (110).

After participating in the Home Run Derby at the last month's College World Series in Omaha, Horan has been tearing it up a mere 25 minutes down the road for the Cape Cod League's Wareham Gatemen. He's currently hitting .329/.391/.633 with an OPS of 1.024, leading the Gatemen in average and sitting tied for fourth in the league with six home runs.

Horan spoke with ESPNBoston.com before batting practice at Spillane Field on Thursday afternoon, before the Gatmen took an 8-1 loss to Hyannis.

Q: You took batting practice with the team at Fenway on Wednesday. How did that feel?
A: "It was definitely different. You grow up watching them and everything, you're watching all your favorite players out there, and you never expect to be out there hitting in the same place they are. On TV, the field looks big, but then when you're on the field and you crush a ball...for me, as a lefty, I crush a ball to right field, and I'm like 'Wow, these guys are hitting shots'. It's definitely a cool experience being able to play on the same field that they do."

Q: When you cracked one to right, did you envision Papi at all?
A: "A little bit. Definitely since he was my idol, especially coming out of BC High when I was a DH until my senior year. I'm a big, left-handed DH, and then obviously Papi is a huge left-handed DH. It just kinda fit to be watching him."

Q: You were in the College Home Run Derby last month, and you have six home runs right now. What's the adjustment typically like going from college to this level?
A: "For me, I don't think it was quite as bad, because our college is sponsored by Easton bats. We get Easton bats, and they have a black bat they call their 'speed bat', and a white bat their 'mass bat'. I use the white one, so it's already top-heavy, similar to the wood bats we use. So, the adjustment for me, I don't feel is quite so different. But then as far as pitching goes, maybe for the mid-weeks you're going to see a lot better pitching than you would in our mid-week games, but the ACC pitchers are also very good.

"You come here, and you're gonna see everybody's best pitcher. Whether that's a mid-week game or not, it's going to be their best starter, their best closer. You're always seeing the best of the best."

Q: Do you recall the first time you watched Cape League?
A: "I caught a couple games when I was real young, but a lot of times Little League would interfere, especially in our town. So I didn't catch too many games, but I've always been hearing about it. And then you see the movie 'Summer Catch' and you'll hear about it and go, 'Oh, that's right down the street from me, that'd be cool to play there some day'.

Q: Do you think about the Major Leaguers that have come through here, and the allure of the league?
A: "A lot of people say this is the last step before you make it to the minors for a lot of people. So thinking about it that way, it's really cool. It puts a lot of pressure on you, though, to try and...It's a scout's league, so you have to do your best, and just show off what you've basically. But at the same time, stay within yourself, and not let all the pressure get to you. Joe Carter at the Home Run Derby, he probably gave me the best advice -- to make it to the next level, everything's mental, because everybody has similar talents at this level, so it's all in your head."

Q: Building on that, talk about your experience in Omaha at the Home Run Derby.
A: "Oh, they treated us awesome, I couldn't have expected anything more. I had a king size bed, I had a jaccuzzi in my room and everything. It was an unbelievable experience, they were real nice to everybody. The fans loved it. Omaha just lives for baseball. I think there were 22,400 fans -- that's a rough number, but it was around that -- easily the biggest crowd that I've ever played in front of.

"It's also different because, instead of having the whole team out there, and thinking they're probably watching someone else -- no, all 22,400 are staring at you. And you don't have the safety of the turtle or anything, it's just completely different out there hitting. It's a rush. You get those butterflies, and for me once I got that first ball out, it's almost like, now I can loosen up and get it going."

Q: What was more rewarding for you at BC High -- winning two state championships in baseball, or winning a Super Bowl in football?
A: "That's a tough one. I don't know if I can separate the two. Honestly, I might have to say football because it was only the second or third time in school history that it's ever been done. In baseball, we were expected to go pretty far, and football it wasn't seen quite the same way. And then the hype for the football games, it builds up all to that one game. I can't really say, because either way all that dedication, all of your work goes into all three of those championships."

Q: Peter Hughes redshirted you for your first year at Virginia Tech. Was it just getting acclimated to year-round baseball?
A: "Yeah, it was that, and like you were talking about with the football question, I was very raw. My sophomore year of high school, I thought I was going to play football, so I didn't play summer baseball at all. I just worked on hitting the weight room, getting as big as I could as fast as I could, and it helped me in football but made me a raw but natural talent for baseball. When I got to college, after seeing pitching here -- Northern pitching isn't as good as Southern, because they can do everything all year round.

"Especially the year I came in, we had Jesse Hahn, Matt Price and Justin Wright -- all guys that can throw over 90. I remember the first time I got in the box, it was Jesse Hahn, and [whooshing noise] like that, it must have been 95 and I was like 'Oh man' [laughs]. It was definitely a good thing, I'm glad I redshirted. Once you get to this time, I have an extra year of eligibility, so I have negotiation in the draft. I definitely needed that year to adjust. I learned so much from baseball that year. Even when they traveled on the weekends, I'd go to the hitting building and work on all that stuff. I definitely worked really hard that year, but it paid off."

Q: What did you need to improve upon most?
A: "I had to adjust to the speed of the game at that point. It was just purely adjusting to the speed of the game -- the pitching, the speed, knowing different things on the basepaths, what to look for as an outfielder, what to look for in counts, where I should be playing. After I got that down, now I'm working on cutting down on my strikeouts, adjusting my swing a little bit, trying not to be so jumpy at the plate. My power numbers have always been good, I haven't been worried about those. I wanted to get my average up, because if my average goes up, my power numbers also go up because it's just running into more balls and eventually they go out."

Q: You're good friends with Eddie Campbell [a Bridgewater-Raynham alum and Horan's Virginia Tech teammate, currently playing for the Harwich Mariners]. How is the banter? Any smack talk?
A: "Eddie's dealing right now [laughs]. Me and Eddie, it's not too much, you always wish each other the best. My roommate who is also on Harwich, Clark Labitan, me and him got a little crap talk going back and forth. The thing with him is always, I live with three pitchers [at Virginia Tech] and I haven't gotten a hit off him or any or my other roommates yet. So, he'll go on Twitter and be like 'The hitless streak continues' and tag all of my other roommates in it. I can't wait until I get that hit, I'm going to be all over him. It's all friendly smack talk, but it's good."

Q: What lessons did you take from BC High that you still hold with you in college and the Cape League?
A: "I'd probably say their whole thing of men for others is their big thing, just helping with the community. My coach Peter Hughes, he went to BC High, so he played under Norm Walsh also. He follows those too. We have this program called '19 Ways', which every year we try to do 19 things to help the community. It all falls in line. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated.

"You see little kids come up to you for autographs, you make their day and just sign it. Live for the day, I guess."

Q: For a kid who aspires to play in the Cape League one day, what's the life like?
A: "Stressful at times, definitely. You could be playing every day, you get tweaks here and there. I'd say it's stressful, but at the same time you've got to keep your head up. You've got to be good to fail at baseball, because if you're average, you're .333. I'm batting .333 right now, but that means two out of every three times I'm failing. You've always got to keep your head up and have a short term memory to be a good baseball player."

The Boston Herald is reporting this afternoon that Boston College High baseball coach Norm Walsh has been suspended for the remainder of the season, including playoffs, following a verbal exchange with a player.

Assistant coach John Lynch is expected to take over interim duties in place of Walsh, who won his 500th game as Eagles skipper two weeks ago. The Eagles, ESPNBoston.com's No. 1 team in the land in its preseason poll, are expected to contend for the Division 1 South title and beyond when brackets are unveiled next week.

"All we can say is that Norm has been suspended for the remainder of the baseball season for inappropriate language," BC High Athletic Director Jon Bartlett told the paper. "Anything else will be handled internally."

LOWELL, Mass. -– The fire remained within.

Matt Tulley leaned against the fence at the top of Lowell High’s dugout, arms outstretched, and gazed out at the BC High players warming up in the outfield at Alumni Field. He was his usual self -– that is, quiet, calm, relaxed, but locked in.

“Do you have the time, sir?” he politely called out to a nearby reporter in the dugout.

“Quarter past,” the reporter responded, and the senior righthander flashed a small grin. Forty-five minutes before first pitch meant time to warm up, time to go to work, time to buckle down and brace himself for one of the state’s best hitting lineups.

Tulley earned a scholarship to Virginia Tech this past offseason in part for the low-90’s velocity and late life on his fastball, but also for his competitive streak. In the big games, Tulley always wants the ball, and he never gives off signs of panic.

Unlike his earlier starts this season, there weren't scouts visibly out front, radar gun in tow, clocking his every pitch warming up in the bullpen. Tonight was a change of pace –- a capacity crowd for “Senior Night”, charting each of his strikeouts with “K” signs posted just below the press box windows –- and as usual, he rose to the occasion.

To end the first inning he delivered the looping 12-to-6 curveball that has become his vicious outpitch, and punched the air as he stormed back to the dugout. The next time up, Tulley ran into some trouble when an Eagles baserunner took two bases off a throwing error by Tulley on the pickoff to first. Head coach Danny Graham walked out to the mound to calm him down; Tulley exhaled, and retired the next batter to end the inning.

More trouble came in the fifth, when Rich Roach raced home on a wild pitch and easily beat Tulley’s would-be tag at home plate, tying it up at 1. Roach appeared to mutter something as he got up, and Tulley jawed right back. Tulley then got No. 2 hitter Ryan Tufts looking on another breaking ball to end the inning.

“Kid slides into home, beats the throw, Matt tags him, no big deal,” Graham said. “Kid says something to him, Matt says something right back. It probably lit a little fire under his a--. He is kind of mellow, a little bit laid-back sometimes, but the fire is within.”

More trouble in the sixth. UConn-bound cleanup hitter Bobby Melley crushed one off the wall in left-center, for a stand-up triple, then came home on another passed ball.

You get the idea by now -– Tulley grabbed the ball, and finished what he started. That was the final hit Tulley allowed, as he struck out 11 batters with just four hits scattered to pick up his fourth win of the season. That accompanies a pretty decent job at the plate, which included a sacrifice bunt and an RBI double.

“I knew I had to not just be on my A-game, but my A-plus game,” Tulley said. “They were coming for me, and everyone else.”

“His pitch count’s getting up there, I don’t know whether I’m going to have to make a move or not, how tired he’s getting,” Graham said. “When he came in in the sixth, he grabbed the pitching chart, and he’s studying it. And I know he’s not studying it for our relief pitchers that are coming in.

“So maybe that did ring true in the back of his head. This is a meaningful spot for him, with a two-run lead, and if there’s anybody out there finishing this game out, I want it to be me.”

Tulley went into the last offseason with some kinks to be worked out with his curve. And so he went to a local legend, Mark Deschenes, a Lowell native and UMass-Lowell star who at one point was one of the Cleveland Indians’ top pitching prospects. Among other things, Deschenes stressed the importance of not tipping his pitches, and keeping a consistent release point.

To say it’s worked would be fair. Whereas a year ago at this time, Tulley went mostly fastball-cutter, he was now pounding four pitches for strikes. Half of his strikeouts tonight came by way of the backwards-K.

“Coming into this season, I didn’t think my curveball was going to be my plus pitch,” Tulley said. “But it has been all year. I could always throw it for a strike.”

Noted BC High head coach Norm Walsh, “It’s not so much the fastball, it’s the ability to change speeds on the breaking balls. He goes from the hard slider to the softer curve with a bigger break to it. And he competes – that’s the biggest thing.”

And to that last point, Tulley recalled a recent conversation with Graham, where the coach reminisced about legendary former Peabody hurler Jeff Allison, a former first-round draft pick seemingly destined for a promising big league career before highly-publicized off-field issues derailed the path.

In Allison, Graham always appreciated the gritty side. Asked about recalling the conversation with Tulley, Graham lit up.

“Grittiness, that’s it,” he said. “I think people want to see grittiness. They want to see you be the guy that wants the ball in the most meaningful spots in the game. That’s it. If you’ve got something in the tank to give, they want to see it.

“He doesn’t necessarily have to show emotion out there, it’s just the grittiness. It’s in your body language, it’s your presence out there on the mound. Just showing it.”

Across the basepath, Tulley’s toughness drew praise from Walsh as well.

“He gets right back up on the mound, and he wants to go right after you,” Walsh said. “That’s exactly what you want to see in a pitcher. Be aggressive, go after hitters. Melley took him deep and he’s right back up there, and that’s exactly what you want from a pitcher.

“Nothing phases him. The passed ball, wild pitch, whatever you want to call it, he didn’t care. He went right back out and threw it again.”

LOWELL, Mass. -- It is a known fact that big-time pitchers are usually at their best in big-game situations.

Lowell High’s Matt Tulley certainly falls into that classification of big-time pitcher. Tonight the senior righty showed why, as he surrendered just four hits while striking out 11 in a complete game 4-2 non-league victory effort over BC High at Alumni Field.

“I knew this was the most-anticipated game of the year for us,” said Tulley, who will play for Virginia Tech next season. “I was just very excited to play. Coach (Danny) Graham told me about a pitcher from this area named Jeff Allison (who played at Peabody High and was a first-round pick of the Florida Marlins) and how gritty a player he was and I just tried to follow that.

"Warming up in the bullpen I didn't feel that good. I don't know what it was but I wasn't to worried about it. I just knew I had to zone in more and get focused. Once I got out there I felt great.”

Tulley mixed his fastball and cutter with a knee-buckling curve, which proved to be his most effective pitch of the evening as it kept Eagles (13-5) off-balanced throughout.

“We had chances but let to many opportunities go by,” BC High coach Norm Walsh said. “(Tulley) is obviously one of the top 4-5 guys we’ve seen all year. Him changing speeds on his breaking ball was the biggest thing. It wasn't so much the fastball but the ability for him to change speeds on the breaking ball. He competes. That’s what you want to see out of your pitchers -- to be aggressive and go after hitters like he did tonight.”

With the contest tied 2-2 through 5 1/2 innings, the Red Raiders (13-3) put this one to rest in their half of the sixth. With John Arens in relief of starter Trent Berg (5 IP, 2 runs, 7 hits, 4 Ks) on the mound, Lowell’s Roger Roman opened the frame with a single. After advancing to second on Matt Cassella’s well-executed sacrifice bunt, the senior eventually came around to score the go-ahead run on a Chad Gens fielder’s choice. The Red Raiders added another run moments later on a Tulley (2 hits, 2 RBI) single to left that scored Mike Hart, who walked.

“We knew it was going to be a good game,” Graham said. “It was a great performance by Matt, and he was very gutsy right to the end. Credit our kids. This one was fun to watch. (BC High) is a helluva team and they compete hard. You could see at the end of the game how meaningful it was to beat a program like BC High. Anytime you win it’s great but when you beat a quality team it’s even better. Our kids were definitely up for the challenge.”

The Red Raiders looked to put this contest away in their half of the first after loading the bases with no out. But Berg, who also used his 12-to-6 curveball with authority, pitched his way out of trouble by striking out Tulley and R.J. Noel before inducing Derek Reed to fly out. Walking the proverbial tightrope much of the evening, Berg, a junior, failed to escape trouble in the third.

Back-to-back singles by R.J. Gray and Gens started things. A Tulley sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. After Berg set Noel with a strike out, Reed next singled to plate Gray with Lowell’s first run.

The Eagles tied it up in the fifth. Rich Roach opened with a double to left, took third on a deep fly out by Chuckie Connors and sprinted home on a wild pitch. Lowell got that run back its half of the fifth. Gens singled, stole second and came around to score on Tulley’s double down the left field line which short-hopped over the glove of third baseman Justin Silvestro making it 2-1.

Showing great resiliency, the Eagles answered back to begin the sixth. Bobby Melley blasted a triple to right and scored moments later on a passed ball to deadlock this tilt yet again, 2-2.

But on this night, the Red Raiders simply had too much firepower offensively and it showed in the bottom of the frame after taking a two-run advantage. With Tulley in full command on the hill, that would prove to be more than enough run support for him to secure the win.

“We put some pressure on them,” said Walsh. “When we kept it on them we scored but we just didn’t get it done as often as we needed to do it.”

SHREWSBURY, Mass. -- Although they never displayed it openly, you knew to a player that St. John’s had Friday’s return match against BC High circled several times on its calendar.

The Pioneers were beaten handedly by the Eagles in Dorchester last month and were chomping at for a redemption shot. Jumping out to a 3-0 lead after one inning, St. John’s did precisely what it set out the do having turned the tables en route to a 5-2 non-league victory at Pioneer Field.

“We have taken every team we've played just as serious as this game today,” said Pioneer third baseman Owen Shea, who contributed a pair of RBIs in the victory. “Yesterday after our game against Burncoat, we talked and made sure that all of us were ready for this one today. We came out hard early and managed to get the win. It's great.”

With Advanced Placement testing taking place this week, BC High coach Norm Walsh did not have a full unit to begin the game. Those players who were testing arrived just before first pitch. That being the case, Walsh had to maneuver his lineup some and had to use a junior varsity pitcher (Sam Telman) on the hill.

St. John’s (14-2) wasted little time getting to Telman, a righty. Tom Petry led off the Pioneer first with a double. Two outs later, Shea followed with a wind-blown double to right scoring Petry. Shea took third on the play after Eagle third baseman Justin Silvestro, taking the cutoff throw, fired home trying to nail Petry but the ball sailed on catcher Bobby Melley hitting the backstop. Moments later Scott Manea belted a double to center plating Shea with the Pioneers’ second run.

Telman woes would continue. Following Manea's hit, Jake Byrne next smacked a single to left scoring Manea with St. John’s third run.

“They took advantage of my JV guy,” said Walsh, his club falling to 12-3. “We could have bailed him out I think with some better play in the outfield. It was tough, wind conditions today and the balls were hit pretty hard. Them scoring three in the first was certainly the difference today.”

Pioneer starter Ben White, despite playing with a stomach virus, was holding the Eagles in check over the first three frames, issuing no hits. But in the fourth, BC High (which defeated the Pioneers 11-5 three weeks ago for St. John's last loss) started to make some noise against the junior righthander.

With one out, Chuckie Connors reached on a Petry error at shortstop. White then struck out Silvestro but couldn’t escape the power of Brian Hocking. The senior roped an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to bring the Eagles back to within a run. Following the blast, BC High proceeded to load the bases but White (4-0) avoided further damage by striking out Rich Roach.

Following the gutty fourth, White’s day was done. Senior Anthony Perry took over and it was up to him to maintain the lead. The lefty pitched was flawless in his three innings of work, surrendering just one hit.

In between, St. John’s was able to tack on a couple of more runs on Perry's behalf. In the fifth, consecutive singles by Jimmy Smith, Nick Sieber and Shea produced the Pioneers’ fourth run. In the sixth they added one more on a Micah Cummins home run off of reliever Bartley Regan.

“Scoring early really helped us,” St. John’s coach Charlie Eppinger said. “We know BC High has an amazing lineup and I give Ben White and Anthony Perry a tremendous amount of credit. Our catcher Scott Manea called a great game and kept their hitter off-balanced throughout. Our kids really wanted this one today. It’s a great win against a great, well-coached program.”

BOSTON — Justin Silvestro admittedly hasn’t been swinging the bat the way he would like in the early part of this season for BC High.

This just might snap him out of his funk.

The senior first basemen collected four hits and came through with a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning to soar the Eagles (8-1) over Xaverian with a 6-5 victory in a big Catholic Conference tilt.

Silvestro flew out to center in his first at-bat to end the first, but in his final four at-bats he went: single, double, single, single, with two RBI.

“I’ve been pulling out on the ball and trying to over swing a little bit,” said Silvestro. “This is a game that can really test staying down on the ball and not dipping your back shoulder and trying to hit everything out of the park. It’s about hitting line drives and I think this will help me.”

Silvestro showed off his new swing thought to perfection in his final at-bat with the sun slowly fading and Game 7 inching ever closer. With Chuck Connors on second with one out in the ninth, Silvestro lined a 1-1 pitch into right-center on a rope to easily score his teammate for the victory.

“He started me off with a fastball high and I over swung because I was trying to end the game,” said Silvestro. “He came back with a curveball (on the next pitch) and after that I knew a fastball was coming. I just tried to get a base hit and hit it hard.”

The Eagles have a 3-4-5 combination as dangerous as anyone in the area — with Bobby Melly, Connors and Silvestro — and Norm Walsh is happy to see that trio starting to get into a nice flow offensively.

“Silvestro is starting to come around, because he was struggling at the beginning of the year,” said Walsh. “It was really good to see. He’s been working hard the last week or so to make some changes in his swing, and it’s starting to pay off.

Connors Gets Redemption: The Eagles were a couple of inches from coming into this game with an undefeated mark, but Connors was robbed on a hard-hit ball up the middle by Lincoln-Sudbury’s Dylan DeFlorio last time out.

Connors, the Eagles' four-hole hitter came through this time with an RBI single in the seventh inning to make sure this game would go to extras. Connors was 4-for-5 with three singles and a double. He scored three runs, including the game-winner.

“He’s been really swinging the bat,” said Walsh. “His average doesn’t reflect it, but he’s been hitting the ball hard consistently.”

Play For The One-Run Game: Gerry Lambert has been in so many tightly contested Catholic Conference games that he knew every run could be crucial.

In the bottom of the third with a 3-1 lead the Hawks (5-4) took a chance with a man on third.

Mike LaVita was caught in no-mans land on an attempted suicide squeeze after Tyler Campo couldn’t get wood on the ball, and LaVita was tagged out in a pickle to erase the threat.

“I’m a broken record and it’s true, these (Catholic Conference) games are nip-and-tuck games,” said Lambert. “That’s what they are. They always are. Every single run is going to matter, whether it’s a close play at first or a close pitch, or a play we almost execute. It comes down to a lot of those close plays.

BOSTON -- Dylan DeFlorio reacted physically like he knew exactly what was coming.

Mentally might have been a different story.

The Lincoln-Sudbury second baseman made a game-saving diving catch on a hard-hit ball up the middle to record the final out of the Warriors 8-7 victory over host No. 1 BC High on Saturday. The Eagles (7-1) had the bases loaded with two outs chasing a run in the bottom of the seventh. The line drive struck by Chuckie Connors most likely would have brought in a walkoff win for the hosts, but DeFlorio stretched out and snared the hot shot to hand the hosts their first loss of the season.

“I don’t remember anything,” DeFlorio said with a laugh. “I just remember looking at my glove and I had the ball in it.”

Alex Weiland got the first two outs of the inning in the bottom of the seventh, but the veteran Eagles lineup started to get to the sophomore on their last leg. Jake Marotta reached on a single and Rich Roach got on for the fifth time when he was plunked with a Weiland pitch.

Ryan Tufts hit a deep grounder to short and Marotta came around to score when the shortstop made an off-balanced throw to third in an effort to get the Eagles’ baserunner at home plate. Bobby Melley was walked on four pitches to set up a force at any base, and on a 2-0 pitch, DeFlorio bailed out his team with the defensive play of the young season for the Warriors.

“He made a play that we were able to celebrate,” said Warriors head coach Kirk Fredericks. “So that was good.”

PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE
It’s not secret that Fredericks is still searching for the combination of young pitchers who can come in a throw strikes against teams that the Warriors (4-1) will most likely see later in the season.

Weiland is starting to show that he belongs in the mix.

The sophomore came in relief in the fifth inning and was able to strand a runner at second with the Warriors up a run at the time. In the bottom of the sixth, Connors found his way on third base with an out, but again Weiland buckled down to get two fly balls to right field to sneak his way out of trouble.

“That’s the second time he’s been in a pressure situation [this season],” Fredericks said. “For him to be able to throw strikes that’s giving us some guys that we can compete with.”

QUICK START NOT SUSTAINED
The Eagles looked like they would run away with this game in the first inning after battering the Warriors for five runs on five hits.

But the offense sputtered in some key situations later in the game. After posting a run in the third inning, the Eagles left the bases loaded with a chance to bury the Warriors already up 6-2, and missed out on another bases loaded chance before DeFlorio flashed some leather.

“A couple of games we sustained it, but we haven’t been able to maintain our focus at the plate,” Eagles head coach Norm Walsh said. “We still got a ways to go, but we can be a really good team.”

DORCHESTER, Mass. -- With a number of quality arms graduated from last year's squad, BC High's No. 1 preseason ranking in ESPN Boston's statewide poll is largely predicated on the number of live bats returning to the lineup. But if the performance this morning by senior righthander Johnny Arens is any indicator of the staff's quality, the Eagles might be OK in that department too.

Arens, a Milton resident, threw just four innings with the varsity last year. It wasn't a perfect outing for him, but he threw mostly fastballs, retiring the first 12 batters in succession -- including the first six all by way of fly-out -- en routed to a one-hitter in five innings of work. He fanned four batters and walked three, and managed to get out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the top of the fifth inning to preserve a 2-0 lead.

After that, senior second baseman Chuckie Connors put on the finishing touches of what was a 5-1 win, lining a frozen rope to centerfield in the bottom of the sixth for a two-run single, the final runs of the game.

"I don't think he walked anybody until the fifth," Eagles head coach Norm Walsh said of Arens. "When I talked to him the other day, I said 'Don't walk anybody, and we'll be in good shape', because overall we're going to play good defense. So I was very pleased with that for him. He needed a good start."

"It felt good," Arens said softly. "I was a little off, but the defense definitely got it done."

The operative word there is defense. The Eagles (2-0) boast one of the state's best middle infields, and the leather was on display in the middle innings.

Arens walked the first two batters of the top of the fifth and then -- working from the stretch -- surrendered a Mason Trubey line drive single to center to load up the bases with no outs. Walsh sense discomfort from his starting pitcher working from the windup, instructed him to go back to the wind-up, and the results were much more favorable. Arens rung up Jake Kelley swinging, then Connor Barry hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the lead over the Lions (1-1).

Battling for Bases: The bottom of the fourth was a good demonstration in run production for the Eagles.

Up 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, BC High's Chris Donovan manufactured a run with the benefit of two throwing errors by Chelmsford on pickoffs. After the first pickoff error that sent Donovan to second, Walsh called for a timeout, went out to meet Donovan and told him to beware of a wheel play the Lions might run.

After taking another bag on a pickoff error, he was sent home by a Ryan Tufts sacrifice fly to left field. Tufts initially went down 0-2 in the count to righty Tanner Houle, but battled back to a full count, fouling off two pitches before getting under a 3-2 curveball to complete the eight-pitch at bat

"I went up there taking first strike, and then I went behind," Tufts said. "I knew [with] a two-strike approach, you just try to protect and hit the ball into play."

Running on Rabbito: Chelmsford junior catcher Matt Rabbito has one of the best arms from behind the plate in the Merrimack Valley Conference, but the Eagles were not afraid to test it. They made three attempts to steal second, finding success twice.

"You don't run on the catcher -- you run on the pitchers," Walsh said. "We were looking for certain things in certain situations from pitchers, rather than so much for the catcher. Obviously if he can't throw, then yes, but we knew he could throw. So we're keying much more off the pitchers than we are off the catcher, and then count situation and you know, you're looking for off-speed, stuff like that to run on."

Hill hurt: Chelmsford third baseman Derek Hill left the game in the third inning with a knee injury, and was replaced by Barry. Head coach Mike O'Keefe didn't yet know the extent of the injury, or timetable, after the game.

"It looks like he twisted his knee, seemed pretty stiff, so we'll re-evaluate that when we get back," O'Keefe said. "Hopefully he's going to be OK. I saw something was wrong. I should have called a timeout and let the guy know I wasn't realy going to see my pitcher, I knew something was wrong with him. But hopefully he'll be fine."

ACTON, Mass. -- It was what one could expect from an early-season baseball game: two teams still working out some kinks, while at the same time showing flashes of what each can be when everything comes together for them.

As dark rain clouds rolled over the field, No. 1 BC High was able to record the final out and fend off a potential seventh-inning rally from No. 10 Acton-Boxborough. The Eagles won on the scoreboard, 15-11, but it left the team feeling like it has a ways to go now that the games count.

“Obviously I’m really happy with the offense,” said BC High (1-0) coach Norm Walsh. “We weren’t swinging the bat well the past few days, so we had a little chat about pitch selection and approach at the plate and I think we re-focused and did what we needed to do offensively.

“We had a couple of defensive lapses, which were uncharacteristic. That was a little bothersome. It’s tough to get on my pitchers at this point, but the big thing is we have to throw strikes. In the last couple of innings, we didn’t throw strikes. It’s not that we don’t have the ability to get people out, because we do. When we threw the ball well through the strike zone, we got outs. It was just giving them free base runners that we can’t afford to have.”

The run production started right from the beginning of the game for BC High. After leadoff hitter Dan Dougherty worked the count full against A-B (0-2) starter Reid Jordan, he belted the payoff pitch over the right field fence to give his team the early lead.

Ryan Tufts, the very next batter, was hit by a pitch. Next, senior catcher Bobby Melley hit a rocket double all the way to the fence, which allowed Tufts to score all the way from first. A-B was already playing from behind before it got a chance to bat.

Jordan left the game after four innings, giving up nine runs. The A-B relief pitchers did not fare much better. The Eagles scored at least one run in each inning besides the last.

Conversely, BC High’s Tommy McDonald gave up seven runs, lasting five innings, giving up eight hits and three walks.

Colonials keep it close: It was not all smooth for BC High, however. Over the course of the game, defensive lapses allowed A-B to prolong innings, and ultimately generate runs.

In the third inning, a hit batsman and a single put runners on first and second with one out. A-B’s Ryan McDonald hit a grounder at Tufts, who fielded it cleanly on the edge of the grass. Rather than throwing over to first to get the sure out, Tufts turned around and tried to tag out Billy Jackman. He was too late, as Jackman beat him to the bag by several steps. He still threw over to try to get the out at first, but McDonald beat out the throw, thus loading the bases.

That turned into a three-run inning for A-B, making it a 5-4 game.

In the fifth, A-B had the bases loaded and already scored a run. Brendan Phelan hit a line drive at shortstop Jake Marotta, but the ball hit off his glove and into the outfield. What could have ended the inning lead to A-B to two more runs.

“We made mistakes, errors, judgment stuff, stuff that probably could have put four or five more runs on the board for them,” said Melley. “We could cut down on that. In close games, we’re going to need stuff like that to win ball games.”

Walsh credited those mistakes to where his team is in the season, believing they aren’t emblematic of the team as a whole.

“I think those are early season jitters,” he said. “Over the process here, I don’t think that’s going to continue by any means. I think we’re going to be a very good defensive team.”

Melley Mashes: In the fifth, Melley came to bat with a runner on second. The left-handed hitting catcher took the first two pitches, making the count 2-0.

Earlier in the game, he had hit the ball well against Jordan, but this time, he was up against junior Andrew Sweet. In what can only be characterized as a hitters count, Melley got a chest-high fastball and was able to get under it and get a good enough part of the bat on it to muscle it out of the park for a two-run home run. It was an impressive fete of strength for the senior captain.

“I was looking for a fastball, and I was comfortable against (Sweet) and what he was throwing to me,” he said. “I saw the fastball, probably about head-level. I really did get under it but I had enough to get it in the wind and get it out of there.”

DORCHESTER, Mass. -- It was far from a perfect outing for BC High’s Donny Murray.

But it was hard for the Eagles starter to be much better while hurling a complete-game shutout against No. 5 seed Catholic Memorial in the teams’ Division 1 South quarterfinal Monday at BC High. The Knights banged out 10 hits against Murray, but they were unable to get on the scoreboard in a 3-0 Eagles’ win.

With several superb defensive plays in the field behind Murray and a couple clutch hits from the bottom of BC High’s lineup against CM ace John Gorman, the fourth-seed Eagles (16-6) claimed their third win of the season over their Catholic Conference rivals.

“Goreman’s a good pitcher and we knew it wasn’t going to be a blowout,” BC High center fielder Jack Buckley said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be a slugfest.”

Murray wiggled out of jams in both the first and second innings with a pair of deft double plays started by second baseman Chuckie Connors and shortstop Ryan Tufts.

With two on and one out in the first, Tufts made a diving stop to his left, snaring a hot shot off of Knights third baseman Matt Goreham’s bat. Tufts lunged to tag second base with his foot while firing to first in time to get Goreham and end the inning.

In the top of the second, Murray found himself in the same situation as the first. That’s when Connors started his inning-ending twin-killing by ranging to his right and grabbing a bounding ball off the bat of Paul Fahey. Connors planted off the second base bag and threw across his body to get Fahey in a close play.

“That got me going,” Murray said. “Not coming out here with my best stuff today, it was great to know I had a great defense behind me to help me through it in both innings. Chuckie [Connors] and Ryan [Tufts] made those plays and it was huge for us, huge for the team.”

The 6-foot-1 right-hander hadn’t toed the rubber since his last start, which was on May 24 against Xaverian.

Murray struck out six and walked one while throwing 122 pitches with 86 for strikes in nine innings.

“I think what hurt Donny [Murray] early was the long layoff from his last start,” Eagles head coach Norm Walsh said. “He wasn’t spotting the ball as well then. But in the later innings, he was really hitting his locations and they really weren’t making good contact at all.”

BC High got all the offense it would need in a two-run fifth. The bottom of the Eagles’ lineup came through in a big way with No. 8 hitter Buckley and Chris Casey, from the nine-hole, delivering run-scoring hits.

Buckley drilled Gorman’s 2-1 offering to shortstop. The ball bit the lip of the infield grass and exploded over the head of Knights shortstop Shane O’Leary, who could only look back in disbelief as the ball made its way into the outfield with scoring Bartley Regan from second.

Casey, the Eagles’ first baseman, followed with a resounding double to left-center with Buckley scoring all the way from first.

BC High added an insurance run in the eighth when Casey scored on a balk.

Taking a hard-luck loss, the book closed on Gorman’s illustrious high school career. The CM right-hander who’s headed to Boston College next year allowed two earned runs on four hits in eight innings while striking out seven.

The Knights end their season at 15-7 while the Eagles advance to play Franklin in the semifinals, Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Braintree High School.

WEST ROXBURY, Mass. -- One by one, the radar guns of the half-dozen major league scouts behind the backstop at Catholic Memorial's baseball field clicked with each toss by the Knights' Boston College-bound potential draft pick, senior righthander John Gorman. And when the side had retired, and Boston College High's Don Murray took to the hill, the guns went right back into their bags.

"Their arms probably got tired," cracked the senior righthander.

Their eyes were no doubt satisfied, having seen Gorman two-hit the Eagles through eight innings, fanning 12 and allowing one earned run in nearly 130 pitches, with a fastball touching 85 to 89 miles per hour with regularity. But just as stifling was the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Murray; he silenced the middle of the No. 1 Knights' order, giving way to Jake Ohanesian's heroics in the top of the ninth, as the Eagles downed their Catholic Conference archrivals, 3-1.

BC High improved to 5-1, while CM lost its first game of the season and fell to 6-1.

It was another solid outing for the senior Murray, who has now fanned 20 batters in the last 14 innings. He struck out 12 in an April 11 win over Malden Catholic; in both games, he threw more than 120 pitches.

"Donny throwing an amazing game definitely keeps us in it," Ohanesian said of Murray, who allowed four hits and a run. "Throwing eight innings out there, well over 100 pitches, that kid just stays out there and battles. That definitely...having a great starting pitcher, definitely gives us that boost."

And in the top of the ninth, the 5-foot-8 outfielder made good on that boost with a frozen rope through the far left that just squeaked fair. Paul Fahey came on in relief of Gorman to start the inning, sending the senior to third; his first batter, Bobby Melley, smacked a 1-2 pitch to shallow left that just brisked the webbing of Gorman's webbing.

Two at bats later, with one out, junior Justin Silvestro was the beneficiary of a close call, as he appeared to have come far enough around on his swing for a third strike, but was ruled hit by a pitch. After some protest, Silvestro was awarded first base.

The very next at bat, Ohanesian hit a rocket, turning it into a double and clearing the bases for the 3-1 lead.

"I was hoping it wouldn't go foul, because it landed right on the line," Ohanesian smiled. "I was just praying the ball would bounce and stay fair."

Sophomore Ryan Tufts then came on in the bottom of the ninth in relief of Murray. The Knights put a man on second with a double, but were unable to complete the rally, to give Tufts the win.

And so while another solid Gorman effort came down as a no-decision, there was no shortage of praise all around for the Knights' ace. All afternoon, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Norwood resident kept the Eagles hitters on their toes by mixing in his clever curve with his high-80's fastball, alternately jamming righties and making lefties reach -- and vice-versa.

"That kid just picks corners like it's his job," Ohanesian said of Gorman. "Awesome, awesome knuckle-curve. Outside corners, he's just good at picking there, and umpires these days give you a couple inches but he's spot-on almost every time. The thing with his curveball, that's a hard one you've got to fight off, and you can't give up on it or he'll ring you up easy."

Said CM head coach Hal Carey, "He's just a very good high school pitcher, who's going to be a good college pitcher. He works fast, throws strikes, has command of more than one pitch. That's a good hitting team he faced, and to hold them to three or four hits, whatever they got, and one run off him, is a great job."