Michael Ryan sends Braintree into the postseason with win over BC High in memory of former coach
With runners at the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh of a tie game, Ryan was elated when his single landed in right field, scoring pinch runner Colin Kasey for a 3-2 nonleague victory over BC High at Monan Park.
Braintree was the tournament host, but the games were shifted to the turf at BC High because of wet field conditions.
'[Braintree coach Bill O'Connell] told me I might have to bunt,' Ryan said.
'Didn't want to bunt, so I swung. Always wanted to hit a walkoff, so just had to make it happen. I was running down, saw my boys chasing after me. Nothing better. It means everything, especially to coach. It was big for him.'
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His base hit was just one of three for the 12th-ranked Wamps (14-8).
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Braintree second baseman Ben Phan dives up the middle to stop a ground ball off the bat of BC High's Wyatt Miller in the fifth inning.
Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
No. 10 BC High (11-9) led into the bottom of the sixth before surrendering a run on a throwing error.
Matt Rogers tapped a bunt to reliever Adam Bushley, who overthrew third, allowing Connor Grieve to score. Grieve advanced from first to second on a passed ball.
'We had energy all the innings,' Grieve said. 'We knew this was going to be a tough game, coming to BC High, playing them in a big game. I mean, we just wanted to beat a private school. We haven't really won a really big game this year. This was the one.'
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Grieve earned tournament MVP honors by hurling a complete game with two strikeouts. He surrendered six hits, a walk, and two earned runs, but never came off the mound and got the job finished.
He was went also 1 for 2 with a single, a walk, a stolen base, and a run.
Braintree's Connor Grieve was named tournament MVP with a complete game victory against BC High and also went 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
Max Bohane led the Eagles with two hits — a double and a single — in three at-bats, and Wyatt Miller and Jackson Richard plated BC High's two runs on singles, respectively.
But when Ryan walked it off in the seventh, there was no shortage of emotion on the Braintree side, starting with O'Connell, because of his longstanding relationship with the revered Fredericks, who
'He said he's got trust in me to keep the legacy going that he built,' O'Connell said.
'You know, we're doing it. I think we're doing a decent job with it. Right up to the end, he came and saw us and just wished us well. He said 'Keep it going.' So we decided to do something in his honor.'
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