HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Braintree pitchers retire 21 straight after leadoff double

BRAINTREE – An almost-perfect game isn't an official accomplishment. But if you're interested, this is what it looks like.

Duxbury's Chris Walsh led off a Marathon Monday matinee with a booming double into the left-field corner. He was the first – and last – Green Dragon to reach base.

Braintree ace Jordan Gorham (5 innings) and reliever Josh Donovan (2 innings) combined to retire the next 21 Duxbury hitters in a row, leading the Wamps to a 9-1 non-league victory.

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"Unbelievable, yeah," Braintree coach Bill O'Connell said after watching the gem. "Chris Walsh, he's one of the better players around. He comes up and rips a double, which got our attention right away. But Jordan settled down and got in a nice groove there. All three of his pitches were working. Offensively we did what we had to do. We didn't have many hits, but we did what we had to do."

The Wamps (4-1) had eight hits, including just one in a five-run first inning in which a ball did not leave the infield. (There were three hit batters, four walks and a bunt single by Aiden Aubertine.) With Gorham dealing – he threw just 61 pitches, 42 for strikes – and Donovan mopping up, Braintree didn't need to do much heavy lifting at the plate anyway.

"During warmups I told coach that my arm didn't really feel good," Gorham said. "Then I got up on the bump and just started throwing strikes."

The 6-foot senior right-hander, who plays shortstop when he's not on the mound, struck out eight over his 5 innings, fanning six Dragons in a row at one point, beginning with the final batter of the first inning. Gorham said that might have been the first time in his four-year varsity career that he's done that.

"He's our ace," O'Connell said. "We're going to ride him. (Down the road) we're going to try to pitch him as much as we can in the big games. (For now) we'll just pitch him on schedule; it doesn't matter who we're playing. His turn was up to pitch today and that's what we do. We don't look ahead; we pitch him when he's ready to pitch."

Gorham was almost as sharp in Braintree's opener, fanning 10 over 6 innings in a 4-1 win over Weymouth.

"This season in particular he's got so much grit on the mound," O'Connell said. "You love to have him on your team. He's so gritty, he's so tough. The slider's really come along this year to go along with his fastball and curve. And he's throwing high 80s, low 90s. Sky's the limit for the kid."

Gorham agreed with O'Connell that his slider has been especially effective so far this spring.

"It's really been running this year," he said. "From freshman year on, I've been taking pitching lessons, and (the slider) got better and better over time."

Gorham originally committed to UMass-Lowell as a freshman, but he's switched gears and now will attend San Jacinto College in Texas. The Gators are a storied junior college program with five national crowns and 27 appearances in the JUCO World Series; they began this season ranked No. 3 in the national polls.

They know each other well

To begin the game, Gorham slipped one strike past Walsh before the Duxbury second baseman bashed a fastball into the left-field corner for his leadoff double.

"Chris and I have been playing (against each other) since we were little kids," Gorham said. "Good battle."

"I've known Jordan for a couple of years now, so I knew it was going to be a good battle," Walsh agreed "He went out there and did his thing. I was happy to get a hit. He's definitely one of the best (pitchers) in the state. He showed it today. He just dominates out there."

Duxbury (1-4) never got another baserunner, but Walsh did come around to score on a couple of groundouts, the second one from Ryan Flaherty for a 1-0 lead. That was all the Dragons could muster, though, continuing a weird trend that has seen their offense sputter after opening the season with a wild 27-20 win at North Quincy. Duxbury has scored just five runs in its four-game slide.

"It's the game of baseball," Walsh said with a shrug.

Asked about the opening-day slugfest, Walsh called it "like nothing I had ever been a part of. Unbelievable game. Every inning there were at least three or four runs. It was crazy. It was about three and a half hours. And it was a 6:30 start, so we got home late."

In contrast, this one ended nice and early. It was a bad day all around for the Dragons – Michael Hocking's 3-inning relief appearance (2 runs on 5 hits) being one of the bright spots – but Walsh at least enjoyed the postgame meet-up with his dad. Jamie Walsh is a Braintree assistant coach.

"That was the first time (we faced each other)," Chris Walsh said. "It was definitely a cool experience. Little weird but a cool experience."

A mound of potential

Gorham will head up the Braintree rotation this season, but O'Connell likes the Wamps' depth there with Josh Morelli and Jack Fitzgerald. Donovan, who plays shortstop when Gorham pitches, has gone back on the mound this season after a standout career there in Little League. So far, the experiment has worked as he looked sharp in his 2 innings of work with two strikeouts, two groundouts and two fly outs.

Meanwhile, O'Connell calls fellow reliever Tyler Curtis (3 saves) the team's MVP so far.

"We're starting to really like our pitching staff," O'Connell noted. "We feel like now we have five guys to go to battle with in the league."

With Duxbury's pitchers struggling with their control, the Wamps' lineup didn't really get to flex its muscles. Four of Braintree's eight hits came over the final two innings with the game already well in hand. Still, O'Connell has high hopes for the likes of Gorham (came in hitting .455), Donovan (2 hits, 3 runs, RBI out of the No. 3 spot), DH Cam Grieve (double, 2 runs, 3 RBI) and Fitzgerald (2 hits).

"I like our lineup," the coach said. "I don't know if we have a lot of power, but we've done a good job of moving guys over and hitting the ball the other way. We've had a couple of sacrifice bunts, we had a squeeze (bunt). We're doing our first-to-third. We're kind of playing Braintree baseball. That's what we like to do."

Welcome back, Super 8 (sort of)

The Wamps will play a challenging non-league schedule that includes Saturday's upcoming visit from North Andover. That game will be part of the "Super 8 Classic" that O'Connell has cooked up. With the baseball (and hockey) Division 1A tournaments on pause for four years, O'Connell has gathered together all of the former champs from the tournament's six-year run (2014-19) for a three-game showcase event at Braintree.

More: MIAA votes to pause Super 8s in all sports for next four years

At noon on Saturday, St. John's (Shrewsbury), the 2017 champ, plays Newton North (2014 champ). At 3 p.m., St. John's Prep, a four-time Super 8 finalist, meets Franklin (2018 champ). And at 6, Braintree (winners in 2015 and 2016) faces North Andover, which won the last Super 8 crown, in 2019.

More: MIAA hockey committee will appeal decision to suspend Super 8 tournament

"I totally miss the Super 8. It's upsetting that it doesn't exist (anymore)," O'Connell said. "It was a great tournament and we're hoping that it comes back again. It really showcases a lot of talent, playing against the best teams around."

"I do miss the Super 8," Gorham said. "I was in the Super 8 as a freshman (in 2019). I started at shortstop at Campanelli Stadium (in Brockton). I wish the Super 8 would come back."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Braintree baseball comes close to perfect game in 9-1 win over Duxbury