Ready for a repeat: Milton baseball tops Whitman-Hanson to return to Div. 2 title game

LYNN − Well, this seems familiar. To everyone except Scott Longo, of course.

Longo wasn't part of the Milton High baseball team's run to its first-ever Division 2 state championship last spring. But his fingerprints now are all over the Wildcats' return to the title game.

The 5-10 sophomore left-hander, a transfer from Catholic Memorial, pitched Milton back into the state final Tuesday night, striking out 15 and allowing just a pair of hits over 6⅓ dazzling innings as the top-seeded Wildcats held off a spirited challenge from No. 5 Whitman-Hanson to win, 4-0, in the state semifinals at Fraser Field.

Longo improved to 8-0 and sent his ERA − a sterling 1.97 coming into the game − even lower. In two playoff starts (he also got the Round-of-16 win over Norwood) he's thrown 12⅔ scoreless innings with 24 strikeouts and 4 walks.

"He's been absolutely terrific," Milton coach Brendan Morrissey said. "We knew that going into the playoffs. Now everyone else is able to see what Scott Longo is all about. He's the real deal."

"The last start I had to get my nerves out there," Longo said. "I was a little more relaxed (tonight). I knew if I trusted my stuff and went out and just threw Scott Longo's game I'd come out with a win."

Longo said he decided "around the end of the summer" to switch back to Milton High after helping CM make it to the Div. 1 state semis as a freshman. (The Knights fell to eventual state champ Taunton.)

"We went to the semis last year, didn't get it done," Longo said. "But this (Milton) team is special, man. I knew they went (all the way) last year and that they had a great team, great culture. I knew if I came back and helped out that we could have another good run."

Milton (21-3) will head to Polar Park in Worcester this weekend (details TBA) to face No. 3 King Philip (17-7) in a rematch of last year's final, which the Wildcats won, 4-2, at Holy Cross.

"Yeah, here we go," Morrissey said of the return engagement, in which Milton will send Owen McHugh to the mound and will have Longo (who topped out at 88 pitches) available for closer duty.

"Run it back," senior catcher Jack Finnegan said. "Hopefully we face their best (pitcher) and come out on top. It's all you can ask for, to face the best team, and we're going to do that."

Mowing them down

How good was Longo in this one? He struck out every Whitman-Hanson hitter at least once and recorded 10 straight outs on strikeouts at one point, fanning the last batter of the second and K-ing the side in the third, fourth and fifth. Reliever Tommy Mitchell got the last two outs, both on strikeouts.

Max Dunn's RBI single in the fourth, which scored K.J. Beckett, was all the offense Longo would need, although the Wildcats tacked on three runs in the sixth when Owen McHugh's bases-loaded single plated two runs and a third came home when the relay to third base skipped away.

"(My) fastball, I painted it good around the edges," Longo said. "They were chasing a lot of high fastballs, which kind of helped me out. And then my changeup, I could work that; they were chasing that a lot. Along with the curve. They chased (pitches) the whole night, which really worked (for me). And then the fastball complemented that well with the velocity change."

"Unreal," Finnegan said. "He was executing every single pitch. He had his curveball, changeup, slider (and fastball), every single pitch was working for him. And when you can throw four pitches for strikes, not many people are going to hit you."

The Panthers (19-5) certainly came away impressed as Longo outdueled W-H lefty Ryan Baker, who was brilliant himself, allowing 5 hits and 4 runs (just 1 earned) over 6 innings.

"He's legit," leadoff hitter Ryan Carroll said of Longo. "Threw strikes. Good offspeed (stuff). Wasn't missing his spots. Nothing you can do about that. He pitched great."

"He's the real deal," agreed Whitman-Hanson first-year coach Matt Henriksen. "I haven't seen a lot of that this year with his caliber (of pitching). That was impressive."

Whitman-Hanson had two promising innings, both of which Longo snuffed out.

Brandon Craven led off the fourth with a double, but Longo fanned the next three batters on 11 total pitches. Morrissey called it "big-time pitching."

Carroll singled leading off the sixth, and Cam Beltramini attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Finnegan pounced on it and threw out Carroll at second base. The Panthers argued the call, but it was about to get worse. Morrissey flagged down an umpire and pointed out that Carroll had gone into second standing up instead of sliding. Since the Wildcats made a throw to first, the umps called Beltramini out too, for a double play.

"I never like to see umpires play a role in the outcome of a game," Henriksen said. "I'll say that. I'm not saying it was the wrong call. A good ballgame you never notice the umpire."

The key to the play − besides the umpires' decision − was Finnegan snatching the bunt out of midair, giving him an opportunity to get the lead runner.

"I was confident," Finnegan said of his gamble. "As soon as I let go of the ball I had a little bit of doubt, but luckily we got him at second and he didn't slide so it was a double play. That was huge for us. It hopped up nicely for me. I got a nice four-seam grip and I knew I couldn't hesitate if I wanted to get the kid at second."

Said Morrissey: "I've coached a lot of terrific players, and Jack Finnegan's awareness, ability to understand the game and make plays in the moment is second to none. The kid's an ultimate competitor. His overall baseball IQ and his compete level are just unmatched."

Smashing debut

Henriksen followed a legend in the Whitman-Hanson dugout as he took over for retired Pat Cronin, who won 503 career games over 41 seasons split between East Bridgewater and W-H. Henriksen made his mark too. The Panthers came oh-so-close to advancing to a state final for the first time in program history. According to AD Bob Rodgers, this was their deepest postseason run since the 1989 team lost to Braintree, 4-0, in the South Sectional final.

More: Coming through in a pinch: Whitman-Hanson baseball's Dan Joyce delivers walk-off hit

"I didn't really even know until Bob tweeted about it the other day that we had even accomplished this great feat," Henriksen said. "I had imagined there weren't that many teams that had gotten this far, but it's neat to know that they created a legacy. This team, their banner (celebrating the Patriot League Keenan Division crown and the state semifinal berth) is going to be up there in the school and every year they come back they'll always see it."

"I had a blast," Henriksen said of his first season in charge. "Am I mentally and emotionally exhausted? Sure, yeah. But to do what we did my first year, I couldn't have asked for anything more."

Ditto for Carroll, one of nine seniors on the roster. Henriksen gathered the Class of 2023 in the outfield after the game to thank them for their service.

"I'm probably not good with words now, but I'm just proud," Carroll said. "Everyone expected us to be a .500 team; that's what we were last year. New coach, new program, new everything. I'm just proud we were able to do what we did. It's a good look for the program going forward to set it up for the underclassmen coming up next year. Hopefully they can get further than we did."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Milton baseball back in state final after beating Whitman-Hanson