Pleasant surprise in Hingham
Coach Vin Murray heard the grumbles that his Hingham Post 120 team would not be among the American Legion contenders this season. Most of the players came from schools that didn't even qualify for the MIAA state tournament this past spring.
But Hingham surprised a few people as it jumped out to a 10-2 start and entered this week at 10-6.
"I don't think anyone expected us to do much of anything this year," Murray said.
Hingham has missed the playoffs the last two years, and as of Wednesday, it needed to win two of its last four games to qualify for the playoffs. The regular season for most Legion teams around the area will end tomorrow with a couple of days to follow for make up games.
"This is our goal to be able to get there again this year," Murray said. ". . . We'll be happy to get in the playoffs and see where that takes us from there."
Murray said he could see the potential in his team from the first four games of the season. Hingham was behind in each of the games and came back to win. Against Middleborough, Hingham erased a 6-1 deficit to win 14-6.
"It gave the team tremendous confidence that they can go out and win no matter what the score is," Murray said.
Contributions have come from all over the field, from a deep pitching staff to a sound infield.
Offensively, shortstop Chris Amrhein, who will be a senior at Milton Academy, is hitting .560 for Hingham. While first baseman K.C. Murphy has hit three home runs and is averaging better than .350 at the plate. Murphy is a three-sport captain (football, basketball and baseball) at Hingham.
The two are just examples of the talent that has come together for Hingham.
"There were very low expectations, and they've exceeded everything people thought they were going to accomplish, and I'm hoping we can finish strong," Murray said.
Wareham Post 220 picked up 11 players for this season, but general manager Jim Muldoon couldn't be more pleased with the group, most of whom have grown up playing together since Little League.
"What's nice is they know each other, their parents know each other, everything just came together and they finally jelled with the other kids that were on the team," Muldoon said. "Now, they're just playing good baseball, which is very impressive for a young team."
Wareham had won seven in a row through Tuesday and looking to qualify for the Zone 10 tournament, entering the week fourth. Coach Keith Delgado is leading the team as it attempts to finish among the top eight teams to qualify for the postseason.
Part of Wareham's success has been because of players like pitcher Tommy Cole, who tossed a no-hitter in a 10-0 win against Dennis-Yarmouth last week. Cole will be a junior at Old Rochester in the fall.
He is the coach for both teams and, when one team is off, DeSilva is working with the other. It is quite the commitment.
As an umpire, DeSilva noticed talent rolling through the town.
He is a friend of Ron Holmgren, who led the 1994 Middleborough team to the Little League World Series. The two were hoping for an opportunity for the players of Middleborough to continue playing baseball.
"I've seen these kids kind of grow up, and they didn't have a place to play," DeSilva said.
The legion team is 6-10-2. During the one scheduling conflict this season, Holmgren led the team while DeSilva coached the Bolts.
The Bolts are 10-15-1. DeSilva has been coaching for more than 22 years, including leading Bishop Stang a Division 3 state title in 1998.
