With One Wild Inning, Catholic Memorial Baseball Ended a 53-year Championship Drought

Originally published by the Boston Globe:

Twelve straight baserunners. Eleven runs. All with two outs.

By the time Catholic Memorial’s stunning fifth-inning rally ended Saturday night, it was clear that the crowd at Polar Park had witnessed one of the greatest innings in Massachusetts high school baseball history.

With that mind-boggling rally, the fifth-seeded Knights toppled No. 2 Bishop Feehan, 13-4, to earn the program’s second state title, and first since 1973, in the Division 1 title game.

The 11-run fifth tied Cohasset’s total from the first inning of the 2010 Division 4 championship game for the most in a single inning. To do it all with two outs on the board?

Astonishing.

“Just proud of the way they hit all year, but especially in the tournament,” CM coach Hal Carey said. “We’ve been the best offensive team and kept it going today.”

 

The Knights (17-8) took an early lead, scoring on RBI singles in the first and second by Carson McCarthy and Rocky Vankoski against Bishop Feehan ace Brody Bumila, who, after struggling through two innings on 44 pitches, was pulled. Feehan coach Joe Breen said the 6-foot-9-inch senior was “exhausted.”

After the Shamrocks (18-7) went ahead, 4-2, in the third with two-run singles from Bumila and Collin McEwan, the Knights assembled their incredible frame.

Two outs started the inning, then two hit-by-pitches and a single set the table for senior Estiben Cruz Pina. The senior tied it with a two-run single, then junior Liam McKinney followed with an RBI single to take the lead.

“I knew this was going to be my last game at CM,” Cruz Pina said, “so I wanted to play out to the fullest.”

From there, it got crazier.

The Knights scored twice on an error, then drew two walks before a two-run single by Richie Curran. Curran beat out a fielder’s choice at second to keep the inning alive, then Kevin Mills launched a ground-rule double to right-center to score two. His brother, Timmy, followed with a two-run single before the inning came to an end after 33 minutes.

“We just had to get those runs across,” Kevin Mills said. “We obviously did, and we kept going and kept adding on.”

McKinney fired a complete game in 95 pitches, allowing just two earned runs and letting his defense help him out. He finished the day with three runs, two hits, and an RBI.

“I love CM so much,” McKinney said through tears postgame. “It’s so good to bring one back to such a good school.”