HINGHAM 10 YEAR OLD TRAVEL TEAM WINS SUBURBAN LEAGUE
BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Hingham ten year old Suburban Youth Baseball League (SYBL) team captured its second consecutive league championship against the Norwood American ten year olds on Saturday August 3’rd at Praught field, West Roxbury (Parkway). Hingham finished its league season 6-3-1 and placed second behind Hanover qualifying it for the four round single elimination post-season playoff. The Suburban League consists of 30 teams from 26 Towns in the City of Boston and suburbs south and West of Boston ranging from South Boston to Duxbury and Newton to Walpole. Each age specific team plays a ten game schedule in their respective region. At the end of the one month season the top four teams of each region meet opponents from other regions in a single elimination playoff determining the league championship from sixteen playoff seeds.

In the first game of the its playoff round, Hingham, at home at Haley field, soundly defeated Quincy 14-6 behind the outstanding pitching of starter Terence Morrissey, middle reliever, Jake McGuiggan and closer Eric Sherman. The offense included a six run third inning with RBIs on a triple from Drew Blomberg and a double from Mat Hughes. The second round of the series, played at Braintree’s Hollingsworth complex saw Hingham defeat Milton American, the Region two, first place winner, by a score of 5-1. The Morrissey, McGuiggan, Sherman pitching trio held Milton to one run while runs were scored by Ryan Thibauth, Jake Quinn, Conor Coveney, and Eric Sherman for Hingham.

The semi-finals brought Hingham to face South Weymouth on Thursday, August 1’st at the Norwood Jr. High field and resulted in a Hingham win 8-3. South Weymouth had reached the semi-finals by defeating Region one first place finisher, Hanover. South Weymouth was clearly an offensive force, having just gone through several rounds of the Cal Ripken league playoffs before being eliminated for the national competition. Hingham’s Nick Albert and Jake Quinn scored two runs in the top of the first inning followed by South Weymouth scoring three runs against Hingham’s lefty, starter, Terrence Morrissey who struggled in the ninety-degree heat. The second inning saw Cam Spiro and Jake McGuiggan score off of a two RBI single from Mat Hughes. The Hingham pitching settled down with Jake McGuiggan pitching two and two thirds shutout ball with five strike outs and Eric Sherman closing with two scoreless innings helped by great defensive plays from Cam Spiro in left field and Terrence Morrissey in right field. Additional insurance runs came when Drew Blomberg scored after hitting a single and stealing a base in the fourth, Nick Albert and Jake Quinn, came home on a Brett Canepa triple and Eric Sherman scored after a single and stolen base on a Drew Blomberg single in the fifth.

One more game to go in order for the Hingham ten year olds to clench a repeat of their previous year’s championship. On Saturday August 3, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. in West Roxbury, the tension was so thick, no one would even mutter the words “repeat”. The coaches had all they could do to keep the players focused. They were now facing Norwood American who by the newspaper reports was one of the best ten year old teams in the state and had defeated such powerhouses as Westwood and Wellesley. In what started out as a pitcher’s duel, Hingham starter, Terrence Morrissey held Norwood scoreless for three innings giving up just two hits and striking out two and getting great defensive support from catcher Brett Canepa, second baseman Conor Coveney, third baseman Matt Hughes and first baseman Drew Blomberg. Hingham got it going in the third when Blomberg got a lead off walk followed by big double by Cam Spiro to left center which scored Blomberg. Jake McGuiggan walked followed by a sacrifice fly from Mat Hughes scoring Spiro. Nick Albert walked followed by a Jake Quinn single bringing McGuiggan home. Conor Coveney then hit a single scoring Albert to bring the Hingham run total to four. Jason Sullivan had a lead off walk in the fourth and scored after Blomberg and Spiro hit singles. In the top of the fifth Conor Coveney got a nicely placed double , Andrew Sypek and Brett Canepa drew walks while Coveney scored on a passed ball. Norwood was not going down without a fight however. In the bottom of the fifth, middle reliever McGuiggan faced eight batters giving up four walks while striking out two. Great defensive plays by Andrew Sypek, along with other defense from fielders Nick Albert , Joey Muleri, Jake Quinn, Cam Spiro and Ryan Thibauth, put an end to the Norwood offense. Closer, Eric Sherman then sealed the books by striking out one and getting the next two to fly out and ground out.

“The early hitting and run scoring took Norwood out of the game for a while.” Giving Norwood credit for mounting a valiant effort, “it was our good defense and pitching that held Norwood down” said Manager Elliot Sherman. Hingham 10’s defeated Norwood 6-4 repeating their championship of the Suburban league. “ This team just plays well together. They get better with each game and rise to the challenge of the playoffs “ said coaches Steve Hughes, Tom Coveney and Rob Blomberg.

July, 2003

The Hingham Suburban 11's won 5 games to capture the Foxboro Rodman Classic Tournament Championship after winning the Sandwich Tournament in seven wins. WOW! Congratulations on a job well done.
August, 2003

In league Playoffs, Hingham's South River 11-12 (Igo) team captured the League Championship defeating Quincy.

The Hingham Suburban 12's beat league opponent, Duxbury in the semi-finals and Canton in the finals to win the 12A Championship.

In their third trip to the finals in as many years, The Suburban 11's lost the championship game in a heartbreaker to Norwood, 7-5, ending the season with a stellar 25-1 record.

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