St Mary’s Baseball Team Honored with State Championship Rings
The St. Mary’s High School baseball coaches and the players have their own personal memories of their state championship season. They now have their own personal championship rings to forever denote that they did indeed win it all in 2015.
“It was nice to be able to enjoy the actual state championship – we did some things together and now to see the players come back from school and get together, getting these great rings puts a nice cap on the 2015 season,” said head coach Derek Dana.
Each member of the team received his championship ring during a ceremony at halftime of the St. Mary’s-Hopedale boys basketball game Monday at the Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
Standing at midseason with a 5-4 record amidst the sixth toughest schedule in the state, the Spartans won 15 of their final 17 games, culminating with a 3-0 win over Mount Greylock in the Division 3 state championship game at Fitton Field on the campus of Holy Cross in Worcester.
There were some dramatic victories along the way, notably a 7-4 win in 10 innings over Austin Prep in the North final, and a 3-2 walk-off win over East Bridgewater in the state semifinal. Brendan O’Neil’s three-hit, nine-strikeout performance led the way against Western Mass. champion Mount Greylock in the clincher.
“They deserved it, they earned it, they went out and got it – it was a great ride,” said Dana. “Not that it’s something you dwell on every single day, but every now and again it’s nice to sit back and think about the things they did accomplish.”
St. Mary’s won back-to-back state titles in the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Dana was a star player on both teams before continuing his career at Division 1 UMass/Amherst and in the San Francisco Giants organization. Dana said he still has his state championship jacket and ring from the title-winning campaigns at St. Mary’s.
Walter Boverini Christmas Tourney pairings
(at St. Mary’s High School)
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Game 1: Girls, Lynn English (Away) vs. Lynn Classical (Home), 1:00
Game 2: Boys, Lynn English (Away) vs. Lynn Classical (Home), 2:30
Game 3: Girls, Swampscott (Away) vs. St. Mary’s (Home), 4:15
Game 4: Boys, Lynn Tech (Away) vs. St. Mary’s (Home), 6:00
Monday, December 28, 2015
Game 5: Girls, Loser Game 1 (Away) vs. Loser Game 3 (Home), 1:00
Game 6: Boys, Loser Game 2 (Away) vs. Loser Game 4 (Home), 2:30
Game 7: Girls, Winner Game 1 (Away) vs. Winner Game 3 (Home), 4:15
Game 8: Boys, Winner Game 2 (Away) vs. Winner Game 4 (Home), 6:00