Early Season Tourney Win Gets Harbormen Back on Track

After dropping their first two games of the season, the Harbormen have bounced back this week by beating Archbishop Williams and Weymouth to grab the Weymouth Tournament.  It took a few games to get their footing and shake the rust off and did so with strong performances on the mound and at the plate.

Hingham was dealt a blow during pre-season when their ace and captain John Volpe went down with a season ending injury.  During their first two outings against Silver Lake and Scituate, while the pitching was good, the Harbormen had some trouble putting hits together only scoring 3 runs in both loses.  

All that changed on Tuesday in their first round game against Archies.  It didn’t take long for them to match their season output with 3 runs in the bottom of the first. They added to their lead in the bottom of the second to make it 5-0.  Junior Jake Schulte, looking for his first win after a no decision in his first start, had a strong performance going five innings with 7 strikeouts and giving up three earned runs.  Junior Ben Berardi came in relief and closed it out for the Harbormen giving them the 6-5 victory.  Hingham put up 10 hits including two from Schulte and two from senior captain Bobby Falvey. 

“We hit the ball better,” Head coach Frank Niles said after the game.  “We made it closer that it had to be. I’m 68 years old to start the game and 72 when it ends, but good outing by Schulte and Berardi looking good out there.  We got to keep going.  We got to keep swinging bats and hopefully it gets easier. We are going to start to play a lot of games so the kids are going to get chances and hopefully we be consistent and be a threat.”

Looking to make it easier for his coach and making his varsity debut, sophomore Chris Volpe took the mound for the championship game. And what a debut it was.  Volpe pitched six innings, striking out 10, and only allowing 3 hits.  He kept Weymouth off the board and a scoreless game until Hingham exploded for 6 runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Weymouth got one back in the top of the fifth, but Hingham answered right back in the bottom half of the inning.  While Weymouth made it interesting in the 7th, junior Tony Fabrizio relieved junior Danny Kent striking out two of the three batters he faced to give the Harbormen the 7-3 win and the championship.  

“Volpe was excellent,” said Niles.  “He was a three-pitch pitcher out there which makes a big difference.  He’s a good athlete and has excellent poise and that bodes well for the future.  He’s certainly not afraid (of big situations).”

It was a good turn around from the first two games but Niles knows that they still have some things to work on.

“We certainly feel a little bit better about ourselves,” he goes on to say. “The road will get tougher in the league. We’re more ready for it now than we were before this week.”

Gaining this experience will help some of the younger players like Volpe and fellow sophomore Jeremy Aylward.  Aylward, who went 3 for 5, had 2 RBIs, and 3 stolen bases in the tournament, is also making an impact in the field at shortstop.  

“Jeremy’s going to make progress,” explains Niles.  “Jeremy is going to be a good player.  Trying to get him to have a point guard mentality.  Shortshop runs the game.  He has shortstop skills, but working on the shortshop/point guard mentality.”

The Harbormen look build off this week’s improvements and push their win streak to three games on Monday as they get back to league play and host Whitman-Hanson on Monday in their home opener at 4pm.