Over the past week-plus of diamond action on the Cape Ann, the Gloucester baseball team yearned for that elusive 10th win.
The Fishermen didn’t just want to rely on the MIAA power rankings to decide their postseason fate; they wanted to officially get at or above that .500 mark to clinch an automatic bid into the Division 3 state tournament with no questions asked.
Things got tougher after a heartbreaking, walk-off loss to Salem late last week. But with two games remaining over the ensuing weekend, their chance to hit their goal was still within reach.
Competing in the Dick Scanlon Memorial Day Tournament, Gloucester delivered in dominant fashion to wrap up the regular season in style. Led by some standout pitching performances from Nico Alves and Giacomo Martell, the Fishermen rolled past Bedford, 8-0, on Saturday before throttling host Wilmington by a 9-0 score to capture the title on Sunday.
That gave head coach Rory Gentile’s group a final regular season record of 11-9 and certainly provided a boost of confidence for the team heading into the playoffs.
“We played great all weekend,” said Gentile, his team seeded at No. 33 in the most recent power rankings. “We needed to get that win (Saturday) to officially get in, and we were able to do that which allowed us to play more freely (on Sunday).
“After the Salem game we talked at practice about a lot of things; what we needed to try to improve on if we were going to continue our season into the playoffs, and the kids just responded to it. One hundred percent credit to them.”
In the decisive victory over Bedford to kick off the tourney, the freshman ace Alves had it going on the mound. He tossed six strong innings, allowing just one hit while striking out eight. In Game 2, Martell toed the rubber and yielded similar results, allowing only one hit, too, over five innings of work.
Gloucester’s pitching staff has performed extremely well in recent weeks (Martell was also stellar in the 2-1 loss to Salem last Wednesday), and having that in their back pocket heading into the one-and-done playoffs is a great sign.
“All of our guys pitched very well and we only allowed single digit hits in both games with no runs,” said Gentile, who also got strong relief outings from Nolan Aiello and Brayden Francis over the weekend. “Because our pitching was so good, a lot of the pressure was on the opponent and it allowed us to play relaxed and free.”
That relaxed and poised approach translated beautifully at the plate, as the Gloucester bats got going in a big way. Matt Smith was the catalyst on Saturday; he mashed two doubles and a home run, finishing 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in the big win.
“Matt went ballistic,” said Gentile. “He was pounding the ball.”
In total, Gloucester had 12 hits against Bedford and 11 more against Wilmington. Lucas Albano, who hadn’t had the chance to bat in recent weeks, had three hits and scored three runs in the latter tilt while leadoff hitter Jaylen Severino was steady to kick things off, recording two hits in both games.
“When he gets on it gets us going and we do a lot of good things,” Gentile said of Severino, who also leads the team in stolen bases this season.
The bottom of the lineup produced well, too, with both Charlie Amero (4 hits in the two games) and Ben Mello (hit, 4 walks, 2 HBP) getting on base safely with regularity.
It was an encouraging, full team effort up and down the lineup for a Gloucester squad that’s unquestionably capable of staying hot in the playoffs. They’re a dangerous team with numerous weapons, and they’ll look to ride the momentum moving forward.
“The conversation was more holistic,” Gentile said of what he said to his team following the impressive weekend sweep. “We wanted them to feel like they’re winners, and once we got that 10th win that’s something nobody can take away from them. This team made the tournament, they became winners, and now it’ll be about feeling like a winner and playing like it (in the playoffs). We’re excited for the opportunity.”