'We brought our 'A' game': Miles Blake, Tantasqua baseball stop Wachusett

STURBRIDGE — The Tantasqua Regional baseball team took the field against Wachusett having won six straight.

But coach Jon Leroux knew his senior-laden squad needed to be on top of its game to continue its winning way against the Mountaineers, who had emerged victorious in six of its past eight outings.

“Wachusett is a great team; they always are … they just reload every year,” Leroux said. “So when you put them on the schedule, you know you have to bring your 'A' game no matter what. And I thought today we brought our 'A' game.”

The Warriors got a complete-game performance from ace Miles Blake and a clutch hit from senior Ryan Wright in the bottom of the sixth inning to edge the Mountaineers, 3-1, Friday afternoon in this marquee matchup at William R. Emrich Field.

“We did everything we had to do to find a way to win a game,” Leroux said after the Warriors improved to 14-3.

“It’s not always pretty, but you do what you have to do. Our kids battled, did the little things right.”

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Blake, pitching on eight days rest, faced 25 hitters while throwing 106 pitches over seven innings.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior left-hander racked up 12 strikeouts — he fanned the first five batters and three of the final four — issued four walks and allowed two hits. Two pickoff throws to first led to outs.

“I felt good today,” Blake, a Northeastern University commit, said. “Got ahead in the count a lot. That’s something I’ve struggled with a lot throughout the season. So it felt good to get ahead in the count.

“I was finally able to find my slider a little bit and get it over the plate for once. I was locating my fastball earlier in the count and threw a few changeups, which is kind of surprising.”

The Mountaineers tied it at 1-1 in the sixth when sophomore Brayden Allaire led off with a walk, advanced to second on an infield out by sophomore Travis Laidlaw, took third on a single by junior Shea Whelen, and scored on a delayed steal.

But Blake stranded the go-ahead runner at second with a flyout and a strikeout to keep it deadlocked.

“He was as good as it gets when it comes to a high school pitcher, especially around here,” Leroux said.

The Mountaineers (9-8) countered with Nate Roy, who was also extremely impressive and efficient.

The junior right-hander allowed five hits, two earned runs and a walk over 5⅔ innings. He struck out five, hit a batter and induced the Warriors into making nine infield outs while throwing 84 pitches.

“We see everybody’s ace, and it definitely helps you prepare to win games when it matters,” Mountaineers coach Jeff Kodys said.

“I thought Nate pitched great, no one really hit him hard. He got down in a couple of counts and battled back and made good pitches when he needed to.”

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the third when senior Colm McGrath reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and came home on an infield error — one of three fielding miscues by the Mountaineers.

They regained the lead right after the Mountaineers tied it.

Seniors Cole Nussey and Petey Casine singled with two outs before junior Lucas MacNevin was hit by pitch to load the bases. Senior Ryan Wright then blooped an opposite-field single that hugged the line in right to drive in a pair.

“My first two at-bats, I was a little bit aggressive,” said Wright, who struck out looking and grounded to short. “So we took a little different approach on this one, sit on it a little bit.

“Coach told me if I got an outside pitch to drive it to right field, and that’s what I did. I read the pitch right out of his hand and drove it to right field and scored two runs.”

Sophomore righty Brady Hughes then came on in relief and needed three pitches to record an inning-ending strikeout.

“It’s tough to look back and say you want to make a move (earlier) at the end,” Kodys said, “But you have Nate on the mound, and he got the first two outs there quick, then a hit batter and a blooper. It is what it is.”

It was the 14th game the Mountaineers have been involved in that were decided by two runs or less, with their record 8-6 in those close contests.

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Miles Blake (2-hitter, 12 strikeouts) shines as Tantasqua baseball stops Wachusett