The baseball team just finished up their regular season and will be taking on Minnechaug in the first round on June 1.
The Chieftains finished with a 12-8 record and just came up short in the NEC standings after a tough loss to Swampscott. Their record defines the type of season it was. Up and down.
Coming into the season there were high expectations for the boys. Senior captains Drew Gustafson and Cal Weidman were ready to lead the team to an NEC title. While the boys came up short, it was still an impressive season.
“We have a bigger goal in mind. It’d be nice to win the NEC, but we have the ability to make a pretty deep run in the state tournament,” said head coach Bryan Duplissie.
The reason for the potential of a deep run is Gustafson and sophomore pitcher Zach Ward. Ward and Gustafson have been phenomenal on the mound this year with Ward even throwing a no hitter against Beverly.
Duplissie and the players on the team don’t see the playoffs any differently even though they’ll be the underdog.
“We’re just gonna try and play spoiler. I don’t mind going on the road. We’re a pretty good road team. I’d put our 2 pitchers against any other team at this point,” said Duplissie.
In an irregular season like this one it was important for Gustafson and Weidman to lead the team even when times were tough.
“They’re both the sparks that make our engine go. The team feeds off both of them. They’ve done a great job leadership wise especially when things weren’t going well in the middle of the season,” said Duplissie.
Weidman said that since playoffs are coming up the mindset has to change a little.
“Now we start to understand it’s win or go home. The seniors don’t want this to be their last game. Practice starts to get a little quieter and everybody is locked in,” said Weidman.
The offense has started to pick up recently and Weidman has been a huge part of that. The star shortstop has had a great season and plays in a great infield along with Gustafson (when he’s not pitching), senior Nolan Zamagni, and freshman Paul Deleo.
As long as the Chieftains are in control, they can beat anybody no matter the seed.
“I’d say it starts on the mound with pitching and attacking hitters early. Anything can happen in the playoffs so we just have to focus on the things we can control,” said Gustafson.
Gustafson and Weidman know what it’s like to be in the playoffs. They have both made the postseason in baseball every year and were also in the playoffs the last two seasons on the football field. The two have great chemistry as teammates and will even follow each other to Bentley University next year where Weidman will be playing football and Gustafson will be on the diamond.
It won’t be easy to beat Minnechaug, but if the Chieftains can get past them, don’t be surprised if you see Masco baseball deep in the playoffs.