Cal Ripken Team Earns a Three Peat

Wrentham was undefeated going into Thursday's 11-year-olds Cal Ripken District Championship, while its opponent, Dedham, had only one loss.

The title game, which was played at McMorrow Field in Wrentham, had all the makings of a soon-to-be-classic. That game, however, never came to be - instead, Wrentham came out swinging and scored three runs in the first inning en route to an 8-0 win.

This was the third such title in the last three years for this group of athletes. As 9-year-olds, Wrentham captured its first district title and went on to win the New England Region, while last year, as 10-year olds, they grabbed it second district Championship but fell in the States.

“In the last three years, this group has compiled a 65-15 record, including a remarkable 9-0 season this year,” Wrentham Head Coach Chris Cooke said. “These kids have been in this situation before, so they knew what to expect coming in.”

After pitcher Wil Weir sent Dedham down in order to open the game Wrentham jumped on Will Linell for three runs on one hit in the first inning. Ben Furfari opened the later half of the inning with a walk, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jackson Lathrop walked, but was erased on a Weir hit to the shortstop as Furfari moved one base closer.

With runners at the corners, Riley Lucas delivered the first pitch into left field for a base hit, delivering Furfari with the eventual game winner.

Weir, who had moved into second on Lucas’ hit, trotted into third on a passed ball and would plate Wrentham’s second run on a Jackson Shiebler fly ball to left field. Lucas would score the home team’s final run of the inning on an error by the Dedham right fielder.

The three-run first would be all that Weir would need in order to avoid another meeting with Dedham the following night. As the game progressed, so did the Wrentham pitcher. Weir would face 14 batters in his first four innings of work, with only Davin Sweeney (double) and David Logan (walk) reaching base. Weir also tallied eight strikeouts.

Wrentham would put the game to rest and the parents at ease by sending 10 batters to the plate in the fifth inning. Here they would bang out five hits (all singles) and score four runs to open the floodgates, increasing their lead to seven.

Furfari, Lathrop and Brendan King would strike the big RBI blows. Shiebler and Collin Cooke would get the other two hits.

Furfari would add an RBI double in the sixth, scoring Patrick Limerick to account for the final score.  Following the conclusion of the game award pins were presented to Shiebler (Hustler Award), Limerick (Defensive Award), Furfari (Offensive Award) and Weir (Player of the Game). 

Wrentham will participate in a tournament in Dighton coming up as a tune-up to the State Tournament (July 16-25) in Burlington.