Although they trailed big late in the championship game, the Halifax 10U All-Stars rallied — and ended up taking home the crown.
The team hosted and defeated Norwell 9-7 on Sunday, Aug. 4 in the South River Baseball Minor Division Championship game, even though their chances of doing so were slim headed into the penultimate inning of action.
Down 7-2 to start the bottom of the fifth inning, Halifax rallied at the plate. They started things off by drawing a pair of walks and from there, their bats erupted. They knocked in seven runs on six hits and went up 9-7. The team then protected their lead on the mound in the top of the sixth inning to win the game.
“I have been coaching baseball for over 10 years now and have been with some great teams, but not like this one,” Halifax head coach Mike Nista said of this year’s team. “Every kid worked hard through the heat and played there best baseball today. I’m so proud and I’m going to miss it. I can’t wait until next year.”
The Halifax 10U All-Stars finish their season at 12-1. They went 9-1 in the regular season, earning the top seed headed into the playoffs. From there, they excelled. They got a first round bye and in the second round, they trounced East Bridgewater 12-0. In the third round of the tournament, they got revenge on Plymouth North, beating them 8-5. Previously, Plymouth North handed them their only loss of the season.
The championship team this season had a total of 13 players on it. They include: Marcus Wilson, Connor Martell, Jack Lynch, Max McEwan, Robert Crosby, John “JP” Palmer, Samuel “Bus” Laidlaw, Ryan Cyrus, Matthew Martell, Garrett Bodel, Tyler “T-Bone” Schmaling, Owen Graves and Brandon Nista.
In addition to Mike Nista, Scott Wilson and Steve Martell served as coaches for the team.