HAMILTON — Cormac Heney’s walk-up song, “… I Was Loving You” by James Hype featuring Ayak Thiik and Dots Per Inch, features a refrain that is twice repeated six times: ‘Whatcha gonna do about it?‘
It’s reasonable to ask if the Hamilton-Wenham ace is pondering that very same thing when he’s standing atop the mound, staring down enemy hitters.
For the second time this postseason Heney was brilliant, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out 10 over six innings. The junior captain also drove in the game’s lone run with an RBI single to propel the Generals to a 1-0 victory over Dennis-Yarmouth Sunday afternoon at Patton Park.
“Comfortable is the word I’d use when he’s on the mound,” Notre Dame-bound senior superstar Gian Gamelli, the only player on either team to cross home plate Sunday, said of the 17-year-old Heney. “Going out there knowing what Cormac can do and knowing he’s going to get outs every single time, I just have so much faith in him.”
“He’s just a dog. Cormac takes the ball and we know we have a chance,” head coach Reggie Maidment said. “There’s a reason he’s our No. 1; he’s one of those kids who wants the ball, wants to be the guy — and has the skills to be the guy.”
Through 12 innings of postseason pitching, Heney has surrendered just five hits and two walks without a run. He’s also fanned a combined 23 hitters with his mid-80s fastball and a smart slider.
“We came out with a chip on our shoulders,” said the 6-foot, 185-pound Heney, referring to the fact that H-W lost to the Dolphins (3-1) in the first round of last year’s playoffs. “We knew it’d be a challenge, but I did nothing different than my first start. They hit the sliders well, so it was predominantly fastballs from me.
“As the game went on, I tried to reach down and find my best stuff,” he added. “They had some solid hitters and nothing comes easy in the playoffs … but it’s what makes these games the fun ones.”
In doing so, the third seeded Generals (20-3) are back in the state semifinals (i.e., Final Four) for the first time since 2018 and for the fourth time in program history. They’ll take on Cape Ann League rival Lynnfield (19-4) for the right to play for the Division 4 state title next weekend. Hamilton-Wenham defeated the second seeded Pioneers in their only meeting this spring, 7-6, back on April 17.
The Dolphins made him earn it, with Heney throwing 106 pitches before giving way to closer Owen Waddell, who shut the visitors down in order in the seventh for the win.
The only hit against him came with one out in the top of the fourth when No. 3 hitter Ben Rondina sliced a ball the opposite way to right that hit the chalk and rolled under a tent for a ground rule double. He then stole third and RJ Delcourt worked a walk, putting Dolphins at the corners.
But a safety squeeze went awry for D-Y as Heney fielded Cambal’s bunt, saw Rondina had come too far down the third base line, and fired a strike to his third baseman, AB Label, who put the tag on the runner. Another strikeout got Heney and the Generals out of the biggest threat they’d face all day.
“Enormous play there,” said Maidment, praising both Heney and Label for staying calm under pressure. “We practice all those plays: we do PFP’s, we do everybody in, ground ball in, ground ball to the pitcher and what do we do? Suicide squeeze, safety squeeze, we practice it all so if it happens in a game, we’re ready. That’s on our coaching staff.”
Dennis-Yarmouth starter Hudson Cambal was terrific in his own right. Needing just 69 pitches in his complete game performance, he allowed a mere three hits and one walk while fanning five and leaving a trio of Generals on the bases.
The only run of the ballgame came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gamelli reached on an infield error, stole second and moved to third when Caden Schrock pushed the ball towards the first baseman for a fielder’s choice. (“QAB”, said Hamilton-Wenham athletic director Craig Genualdo, referring to a quality at-bat).
“Coach loves to say ‘Any way on’,” Gamelli noted. “It doesn’t have to be a double in the gap or a home run or anything crazy; even that little bobble was enough to get me on base. In these games it’s not the stat line that matters; it’s the ‘W’ at the end of the day.”
Heney (“he knows situational baseball and went up there with a plan,” said Maidment) then drove a Cambal fastball cleanly past the third baseman and into left field as Gamelli trotted home safely.
“I’m up there hunting fastball but not necessarily looking for one, because you have to be able to adjust,” Heney said.
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