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06/14/2021 12:00 AMIt’s hard to win against a team that doesn’t beat itself. The 2021 edition of the Hand baseball squad was a team that never beat itself, and that held true in the Class L State Tournament final when the Tigers claimed a 3-0 victory over Berlin at Palmer Field on June 12.
Hand was bolstered by stellar defense and a pitching clinic put on by junior David Antonetti in a one-hit shutout that resulted the Tigers claiming the first state title in program history.
On paper the final was a dream matchup for baseball fans, pitting the top-seeded Tigers against the No. 2 seed Redcoats. Knowing what was on the line, Head Coach Travis LaPointe was confident in his team’s ability to rise to the occasion, but Hand shutting out a quality team like Berlin was still a bit of a surprise. Coach LaPointe believed that the Tigers’ pitching battery of Antonetti and senior catcher Chris Engelhart established the Tigers’ tenor for the rest of the contest.
“They were so ready. It was only our second shutout of the season. Despite our record, we never really shut anyone out. The game was played in like an hour 20,” said LaPointe. “It was the fastest game that I’ve ever been a part of. Both pitchers pounded the strike zone and worked quickly. David loved every moment. He threw like a six-pitch first inning, and it set the tone.”
With the junior righty dealing on the mound, the Tigers didn’t need much offense to bring home the banner, and Coach LaPointe expected that the game might be decided by a run, one way or another. When Hand capitalized on some Berlin miscues and strung together a few hits in the bottom of the fourth inning, the stage was set for the Tigers’ triumph.
All-State and All-SCC First Team senior captain third baseman Anthony DePino led off the frame with a single. Seeing that runs were hard to come by, Coach LaPointe called for senior captain shortstop Jack Pireaux to lay down a sacrifice bunt toward first base, but the Redcoats got their assignments confused. No one covered first, and Hand ended up with runners on first and second with nobody out. All-SCC First Team senior first baseman Daniel Weinstein was next at the plate and fell behind in the count, one-and-two, but he was hit by a pitch and awarded first to load the bases. All-SCC Second Team senior left fielder Eli Davies grounded into a fielder’s choice at home plate for the first out. Senior Giovanni Roman hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field that was close to going over the fence but ended up just plating the first run of the game. Senior Evan Mastrobattisto laced a line drive to left for an opposite-field double that drove in two more insurance runs to make it 3-0.
Coach LaPointe believed the state final was a microcosm of the way Hand has played the entire campaign: clean on defense with opportune offense.
“That’s who we’ve been all year long. Our offense has timely hits, and we take advantage of other teams’ mistakes. Again, it comes down to the defense. Colin Telford made four incredible plays in center field going back over his shoulder. It was really a team effort,” LaPointe said. “I was so proud of our team. You don’t really know how they will respond in a championship environment without much experience. Berlin had so much experience there. I was proud of them being ready for the moment. They played so fearlessly.”
Antonetti and Chris Engelhart executed their game plan well, but it wouldn’t be a championship match without a little drama. In the bottom of the seventh, Berlin showed patience at the plate and worked a couple of walks to put runners on with nobody out. After that, Antonetti retired the next three batters in order. Coach LaPointe thought Antonetti was built for games like this one.
“David loves the moment. He’s unique guy with a baseball IQ that is off the charts. He’s a student of the game. He has three complementary pitches, but his best pitch is his curve ball. If all three of his pitches are on, he’s almost unhittable. What makes him unique are his really long fingers, like Pedro Martinez. The ball stays on his hands longer and allows him to create more movement,” said LaPointe. “I also want to give a lot of credit to our catcher Chris Engelhart. The catchers really get no love when the pitchers do well. Chris calls the game; we don’t call pitches from the dugout. He handles the pitcher, and adjusts accordingly. He was just sensational this game and all year.”
In order to reach the final, the Tigers claimed a 2-1 victory over Avon in a 10-inning semifinal contest at Palmer Field on June 8. Avon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a sac fly. That advantage lasted until the bottom of the third inning when Hand benefited from an Avon error that set up a sacrifice fly for Giovanni that knotted the score at 1-1 until the bottom of the 10th inning. That’s when the senior captain tandem of DePino and Pireaux did what was necessary to send Hand baseball to its first state final in program history. DePino hit a one-out double in the bottom of the 10th, and Pireaux followed in kind with a double of his own to drive in the game-winning run in walk-off fashion. Coach LaPointe saw his two captains step up big time, and he thought that was a fitting way for the game to end. It was also fitting that prior to that fateful 10th inning, the Tigers kept themselves in the game with jaw-dropping defense in the fourth inning after Hand had just tied the game.
“Avon hit a ball off the top of the fence with a runner on first. Our left fielder made a relay to shortstop, and he made this incredible throw to the plate. Our catcher made an incredible tag, and then from his knees, he got the ball to third base for a double play. If we don’t make that play, we lose that game. It missed going out by about two feet. If it went over, we probably don’t win that game,” LaPointe said. “The game-winning run was Anthony DePino, who doubled with one out, and then Jack Pireaux doubled him home for the game-winning RBI. It was fitting that the two captains were the ones to get us to the state final.”
The Tigers made program history twice this campaign by reaching their first state final, and subsequently winning a title. Next year, Coach LaPointe believes that Hand will have to make some adjustments after graduating several seniors, like All-SCC Second Team senior pitcher Matt Carone, but the Tigers will be more than up to the task.
“We had 11 seniors and most of those seniors were really big contributors. We’re losing a large part of our team. That being said, we’re going to be really good next year. Our freshmen this year are one of the best classes in the state, I think,” said LaPointe. “A lot of those kids went to the Regional World Series in Little League, so they are really, really good. We’re going to be young next year, but I think we’ll be contending to defend our title, and two or three years down the road, we will be one of the best teams in the state. I’m expecting some growing pains next year, but by the second half, we should be a really great team.”
The Hand baseball squad’s roster includes seniors Chris Engelhart, Giovanni Roman, Matt Carone, Colin Telford, Danny Weinstein, Mike Engelhart, Jack Pireaux, Anthony DePino, Eli Davies, and James Arida; juniors Ryan Knight, Andrew Earl, Jeff Pinover, Evan Mastrobattisto, David Antonetti, William Kranzler, Jack Kayal, Connor Powell, William Bazenas, Axl Pildner, and Ben Lyons; sophomore Hudson Geremia; and freshmen Ben Kuja and Johnny Reh.