FRANKLIN — Franklin High School ace Derrick Sylvester and catcher Nate Kaplan won't be surprised by the Newport Tigers this afternoon. Sylvester fanned 10 and allowed just five hits in Franklin's 6-4 win at Newport just two weeks ago.
The one cause for concern? The ninth-seeded Tigers haven't stopped hitting since.
Newport enters its quarterfinal clash at Franklin on a tear at the plate, scoring a remarkable 48 runs over its last three games, including a 12-5 road win Thursday over No. 8 Farmington.
Sylvester and Co. know the Tigers are tough. Newport roared back from a 5-0 deficit against Franklin back on May 22, pulling within a run late. The Golden Tornadoes scored an insurance run in the seventh and held on for a shaky two-run win.
"Probably in that game we were lucky to hang on," Franklin coach Tom Charbono said. "They're a decent hitting team. I know they can score runs and they had some good swings against Sylvester."
The Franklin-Newport rematch is one of three quarterfinal baseball games on tap for area baseball teams. No. 3 Winnisquam faces No. 6 Hopkinton in Class M for the first time this season in Tilton, and No. 5 Plymouth has a surprising second home game against No. 13 Bedford, which shook up the Class I bracket with a 14-6 upset of fourth-seeded Monadnock.
"That's a big surprise," Plymouth coach Tom Underwood said. "We thought we would really have to hop on a bus."
Although Newport's current hitting spree has been spectacular — it scored 22 runs at Mascoma last week — Franklin put on a show of its own in the first meeting. Brian Morrill, John Pickowicz and Nate Kaplan all homered in the same inning to give Sylvester an early cushion.
Franklin ace Derrick Sylvester fires a pitch against Belmont in a Class M baseball game earlier this season.
(DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO)
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More fireworks will have to come off a different pitcher. All-Stater Ben Spanos, who the Tornadoes beat back in May, threw six innings in Thursday's prelims and is unavailable to pitch per state guidelines. A pitcher must have at least three days rest if he pitches more than five innings.
There's no question marks in Franklin's camp. Pickowicz went five innings for the win in Thursday's 10-6 win over Stevens, and now the second part of Class M's most feared pitching tandem will have his turn.
"Sylvester's going," Charbono said. "He threw against them the first game, probably didn't have his best game although he only gave up five hits. I expect, whenever he and Pickowicz are on the mound, we'll have a chance."
Newport had a handful of players with multiple hits in the first round. Todd Lucas was 3 for 5 and Spanos, Andrew Mihaly and Ryan Beaulieu had two hits apiece. Today's winner meets the survivor of No. 5 Berlin and No. 4 Mascenic Regional.
Winnisquam watched its dream scenario play out in its 9-4 win over 14th-seeded Hopkinton Thursday. No. 2 starter Nick Lyford picked up the win in a six-inning effort, and sparkling sophomore ace Jordan Cote pitched just one inning — a perfect seventh.
Cote enters his second career postseason start with an 8-0 record this spring, including a seven-inning perfect game against Gilford. He beat Somersworth lefty David Parma in a preliminary-round matchup last season, and he'll go opposite a similar opponent today in Hopkinton's Sam Bonifant, a freshman southpaw.
"He's very good," Caruso said of Bonifant. "He's around the plate. He doesn't walk people. He's picked off like 18 guys this year. We know that we're in for a battle. It's going to be a lot of fun, though."
Winnisquam can usually bank on a regular season meeting with the Hawks, but this year's got scrapped when the state trimmed two games off the usual 18-game Class M schedule. Evan Levy went 3 for 4 in Hopkinton's 6-0 blanking of No. 11 Sanborn in the first round, and the Hawks have a talented freshman catcher in Sam McManus that Caruso knows well from AAU ball.
"I've seen them play," Caruso said Hopkinton's freshmen battery mates. "And I know they can play."
Because the Bears used Cote for just one inning Thursday, their ace could be available to start both today and a potential semifinal matchup with the winner of No. 2 Campbell and No. 10 Somersworth.
"Whoever pitches Saturday can pitch again Wednesday in the semifinals," Caruso said. "So you have to kind of play the game a little bit."
The game of Thursday's first-round slate might have been Plymouth's 7-6 survival over No. 12 Milford. Trevor Bladecki hit a pair of homers, including a three-run shot that erased a 4-6 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, and had a pair of heroic defensive plays behind the plate that aided in the Bobcats comeback.
Even better was Bedford's wild upset. Monadnock, which edged Plymouth for the No. 4 seed based on its 7-3 record against tournament teams in the regular season, had a nine-error meltdown Thursday. That bought the Bobcats a second game at PRHS, where they're 7-2 this season.
"I know they're a junior-driven team with a slight mixture of sophomores," coach Underwood said of Bedford. "Last year they were a 2-16 team in Class I. When you get down to these last eight spots, anything can happen on any day."
Stud pitcher Kyle Underwood, who enters today with a 5-1 record and a 1.67 ERA, will start on the mound for Plymouth with junior lefty Kyle McAuliffe, who tossed a pair of shutout innings Thursday, available for the late innings.
The Bobcats are a senior-led group. Richie Manzi is hitting over .500. Bladecki leads the team in RBIs out of the cleanup spot and Matt Varin leads the team in homers with four. Plymouth features seven seniors in all.
"I really think we're going to be in a ballgame (today)," coach Underwood said. "Bedford's out to prove they belong in Class I."
