Somerset Berkley holds off Stoughton in baseball thriller

Visiting Somerset Berkley thwarted a frantic Stoughton comeback attempt Saturday morning and will advance to the Division 2 South quarterfinals after a 3-2 baseball victory over the Black Knights.

STOUGHTON - Visiting Somerset Berkley thwarted a frantic Stoughton comeback attempt Saturday morning and will advance to the Division 2 South quarterfinals after a 3-2 baseball victory over the Black Knights.

The ninth-seeded Raiders will travel to face top-seeded North Attleboro on Monday at 4 p.m.

The Black Knights made things very interesting in the home half of the seventh, trailing 3-1 with two outs and nobody on.

Safe or out? He was called out. Stoughton still manages to get a first-inning run and leads Somerset Berkley 1-0 after one. pic.twitter.com/x0inCTohuj

— Mike Thomas (@NostraThomasHN) June 9, 2018

Somerset Berkley pitcher Chase Stafford issued his first walk of the game to Stoughton's No. 9 batter before Ruben Gonzalez laced a run-scoring triple deep into the corner in right field to make it 3-2.

Gonzalez then, with the count 2-2 on Matt Hadley, sprinted home from third base and Hadley took a full swing, grounding out to third base to end the game.

"We knew (Gonzalez) was fast," said Somerset Berkley coach Dennis Almeida. "I don't know if there was miscommunication with the kid swinging, but I think there were two strikes so he had to. With all that going on, I was very impressed with the focus of our guys out there. Hats off to them for staying mentally tough."

Stafford was impressive throughout, scattering seven hits (three in the first inning) and striking out six.

"He's been the man for us," Almeida said of Stafford. "He's been our horse. He battles. He's super competitive. He made a couple of nice plays in the field for us. His pitch count was around 96 going in to that last inning. He would never take himself out of a game like this. I would have to drag him off the field."

Stoughton struck first when James Genest drove home Evan Gibb with a first-inning single. Stoughton had three hits in the inning, but had a runner thrown out at the plate trying to score on a passed ball.

Dave Ferreira with an RBI single as @sb_raiders get on the board. pic.twitter.com/ZdCQ53Egwm

— Mike Thomas (@NostraThomasHN) June 9, 2018

David Ferreira's RBI single keyed Somerset Berkley's two-run second inning, and the Raiders tacked on another run in the fourth when Kyle Vieira, who opened the inning with a single to center, scored on a throwing error.

Somerset had a chance to break the game open with the bases loaded and nobody out in that fourth inning, but Jake Meehan flied out to right field and a Raider runner was doubled up at first base.

"We had some mistakes on the bases and in the field," said Almeida. "We know when we're in the playoffs playing against good teams like this, we're not going to put up 10-15 runs. We can't make mistakes like this. We need to clean it up."

Stafford held the Black Knights scoreless until that wild seventh inning.

Luke Faria, Connor Ryder and Ferreira all finished with two hits for the winners., who collected eight total.

Now the focus turns to North Attleboro, who comes in with an 18-2 mark and the No. 1 seed.

"I don't know a lot about them, but our biggest thing is not to worry about the other team," Almeida said. "We're our own worst enemy. They are the No. 1 seed and they have a good program, but we can't be intimidated by them."