Belmont squeezes out win for North title
Through four innings of yesterday's MIAA Division 2 North final at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Belmont had stranded seven runners and trailed Masconomet, 1-0. The Marauders admitted they were getting nervous.
But not Matt Ruane. The senior shortstop belted a fifth-inning RBI double to tie the game, then scored the go-ahead run on a safety squeeze by Jon Smart, sparking Belmont's 3-1 win and the program's first sectional title since 1992, and second since 1959.
The title was also redemption for Belmont, after a 4-3 loss to Reading cost the Marauders the Middlesex League title on the last day of the regular season.
"It makes up for everything," said Belmont coach Jim Brown. "I think that loss only made us stronger."
Third-seeded Belmont (21-3) could have settled things much earlier, as Chris Barton walked the bases loaded with one out in the first . But Barton wriggled out of the jam and Masconomet (19-5) took the lead in the second on a sacrifice fly by Evan Bunker.
After shutting down Belmont for four innings, Barton couldn't escape in the fifth. Ruane drilled a double that short-hopped the wall in left, scoring John Sodini. After Bryan Watkins bunted Ruane to third, Smart laid down a perfect safety squeeze to score Ruane, who also saved the win for starting pitcher Taro Gold (five innings, one run).
Belmont added a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Andrew Diozzi, who also caught the out that ended the game, celebrating by firing the ball off the large Hood milk bottle beyond center field.
"It took long enough," Diozzi said, "but we got it done."
Division 3 North -- Tyngsboro's Keith Johansen pitched a shutout to vault the surprising Tigers to a 2-0 win over North Reading in the sectional final at LeLacheur Park.
Johansen has practically carried Tyngsboro -- a No. 10 seed with a 13-7 regular-season record -- to this point, throwing three complete games in the Tigers' four tournament wins and allowing a total of four runs.
Johansen scattered six hits and four walks, repeatedly pitching out of jams, and struck out seven in his ninth win of the season. Meanwhile, the Tigers scraped together just enough offense, as A.J. Labreque's third-inning sacrifice fly and Matt Cataldo's fourth-inning RBI single stood up against the Hornets (18-6), last year's sectional champs.
Division 2 South -- Behind five strong innings from junior Trevor Lawson and timely hitting, Oliver Ames downed Apponequet, 4-0, at Braintree High to claim the sectional title.
"Trevor did a great job. It's only his third or fourth start, and to get five innings out of him was great," said coach Leo Duggan of his usual shortstop. "This is how these kids do it. The pitching was outstanding."
Oliver Ames scored the only run it would need in the third, when shortstop John Spencer beat out a grounder to short, advanced on a single by Justin Holmes and a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Sheedy, and came home on a fly ball to center by Andy Bloom.
The Tigers added two runs in the fifth , with Spencer again coming around on a double by Sheedy. Bloom drove in Holmes with a single to make it 3-0.
Spencer also turned in the key defensive play in the fifth after Lawson walked two with one out. Spencer got to a grounder up the middle, stepped on second, and completed the double play.
Division 3 South -- James Hamilton outdueled Keith Bilodeau, lifting Harwich to a 2-0 win over Bourne at Braintree High and a spot in the EMass championship in a game that took only 1 hour 18 minutes at Braintree High.
It was Harwich's sixth appearance in the past seven years in the sectional final, and the team's third straight South championship. The Rough Riders (17-7) will face Tyngsboro tomorrow in Braintree for the EMass title.
"He kept them guessing," Harwich coach Fred Thacher said. "James is a tremendous competitor."
In the rare instances that Bourne (16-8) put men on base, Hamilton elevated his game. He finished with a one-hitter, allowing just four base runners while striking out eight. Bilodeau nearly matched Hamilton with 10 strikeouts, two hits, and one walk.
Hamilton drove in the first run, in the first inning, lining a single over Bourne shortstop Dan O'Keefe. Jay Gomes provided insurance in the sixth with an RBI double.
Globe correspondents David Benoit and Jeff Powalisz contributed to this report. 
