Longtime coach Mike Carrozza clinches 400th career win with Bridgewater-Raynham softball

BRIDGEWATER —  They knew it was coming. The countdown has been dwindling down year after year, one win at a time.

But it was Wednesday afternoon when the confetti popped, a game ball was passed around for autographs and a massive poster spanned the length of the Bridgewater-Raynham softball team's group photo.

Longtime head coach Mike Carrozza earned his 400th career victory after the Trojans' 15-0 mercy-rule final over rival Brockton (five innings), as his team improves to 9-1 on the season.

“Going into the season, we knew his 400th was coming. We just wanted him to have that special moment," outfielder Emma Flaherty said. "Being a senior, it’s emotional and very exciting. Going into this game, we told everyone to keep the energy up and go for it. We needed to do this for Coach.”

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Carrozza, 70, has led the Trojans to the state tournament in all but one of his 25 seasons in charge. He won four sectional titles (plus three runner-up finishes), a collection of 15 league titles and one state title in 2014.

“We have some of our banners up there of everything that has happened during my tenure. It’s been a great run,” Carrozza said. “Over all of those years, we’ve had some really good ballplayers and some great teams, and everyone has always performed. If it wasn’t for the players, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.

“They’re the ones that earned it," he said. "I’m just the one that guided them and wrote the lineups.”

Carrozza is a Brockton native who attended Cardinal Spellman for high school, then later served as a police officer in Brockton and was a military police officer in the Army during the Vietnam War. Carrozza was hired as the Bridgewater-Raynham softball coach coach in 1998 after being a volunteer at the school.

“It’s a fantastic feeling, number one. And number two, everybody is here. Some of my players that have played for me showed up. That was excellent," Carrozza said. "It was even nicer that Lily had a fantastic performance today.”

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Senior right-hander Lily Welch struck out 10 of the first 11 batters she faced en route to a a five-inning no-hitter. She tallied 13 strikeouts and didn't relinquish a base-runner to the Boxers in the win. Welch, a reigning All-Scholastic selection, has led the charge in B-R surrendering just one run in its last four games.

“We’ve been counting down the days,” to Carrozza's milestone, Welch said. “It’s so special to witness it, be a part of it and be one of the reasons why he’s at 400.”

Carrozza said the milestone is a byproduct of the team's many trips to the postseason, as the team plays a 20-game regular season schedule. Last spring, the Trojans built on a 10-10 regular season by notching two tournament wins en route to the Div. 1 Sweet 16. In 2021, the team bolstered an abbreviated 9-4 regular season (COVID-19) by clinching four postseason wins during its run to the Div. 1 South final against Taunton.

“It’s always been a strong program throughout his coaching tenure," Welch said.

All nine Trojans in the lineup scored a run in Wednesday's win, led by Flaherty (2-for-3, walk), junior third baseman Ava Selter (3-for-3, walk), sophomore left fielder Lily Berman (1-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) and junior catcher Taylor Reid (2-for-4, 2 RBIs).

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Of Welch's two non-strikeouts, Flaherty took care of a fly ball to right field in the second inning and sophomore shortstop Holly Clary retired a ground ball in the fifth. “(Welch) is an amazing pitcher. I love playing for her," Flaherty said. "She’s just amazing to watch.”

Consisting of four seniors, three juniors and five sophomores, Carrozza and company admitted they didn't have any preseason expectations due to a flurry of offseason changes via graduation and position changes. Now standing at 9-1 with wins over Marshfield (7-2 win), Bishop Feehan (3-0) and a pair over Braintree (1-0; 14-4) already secured, the team looks forward to another postseason trip -- the 24th in the Carrozza era -- with regular season matchups against Milton, Plymouth North and King Philip still ahead.

“Honestly, in the beginning, we weren’t really sure (how it’d go) because we have so many new players and underclassmen, but going through the season, it just shows everyone is putting all their effort in and showing what they can do," Flaherty said.

Upon reaching No. 400, Carrozza also credited his quality assistants over the years, including this year's staff of Ron Baron, Gary Swartz and scorekeeper Diane Talpey.

“The sport has always stayed the same and the personnel has always changed from year-to-year, but that’s what keeps me coaching," Carrozza said. "You always see a good group of kids coming up, and they really work hard and they really understand (the bigger goal), as far as competing. We’ve been right there just about every year.”

“And the end result," he said, "it really feels good.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Mike Carrozza claims career win No. 400 as coach of B-R softball team