Sometimes a team is only remembered by the last game it played, and for the 24th-ranked Marblehead High baseball team (15-6) that would be a shame.
Coach Mike Giardi admitted his team did not play its best game against host Westwood (16-6), the ninth seed, in a Round of 32 Division 2 game on June 1, losing 9-3.
“Unfortunately, when you get in the state tournament you have to bring your A-game all the time,” Giardi added. “We didn’t play poorly, but we didn’t play to the level that we have been accustomed to playing at all year long.”
If there’s any consolation, Westwood went on to double up Algonquin, 6-3 in the Round of 16. They were then scheduled to take on Walpole (18-4, top seed) in an Elite 8 game at Natick on June 8.
The Magicians struggled early on in the Round of 32 game, but fought back to tie up the proceedings at three in the fifth. But in the bottom of the fifth, the visitors made a couple of miscues that gave Westwood a 6-3 lead. They never looked back from that point on.
“It was a psychological blow that was tough to bounce back from,” said Giardi. “But overall, it was a great year. We went from starting out 1-3 to a final record of 15-6 that included two seven-game winning streaks during the regular season.”
The Northeastern Conference singled out four Magicians for all-star status. Giardi, of course,
would have liked more on the star-studded roster, but added, “our team was just a product of the sum of its parts being greater than the individual parts. We had a solid team that relied on a variety of players at different times. It was a great group that was a ton of fun to coach.”
Senior co-captains Chris Cannuscio (pitcher, first baseman) and Brooks Keefe (centerfielder) were recognized as All-Conference players. Cannuscio also finished second in the NEC Player of the Year balloting, voted on by the NEC coaches. Seniors Riley Schmitt (third baseman) and Charlie Sachs (right-fielder) rounded out Marblehead’s selections as members of the conference all-star squad.
