Stoughton Ends Sharon High Baseball's Postseason Run

After losing to Stoughton twice this season, once in extra innings, and the other time on a walk-off hit, the Sharon High baseball team was looking to reverse its fortune in the third matchup between the Hockomock League Davenport Division rivals.

But, like the first to games, Stoughton came out on top this time as well, 12-6, in a Division 2 South Sectional semifinal contest played Wednesday at Wheaton College. 

The win sends sixth-seeded Stoughton to the South Sectional final, while the loss ends the season for tenth-seeded Sharon, a team putting together a bit of a Cinderella run through the playoffs, previously knocking off #7 Dighton-Rehoboth and #2 Oliver Ames. 

Senior captain Nate Pederson drove in two runs with a double in the top of the first to give Sharon an early 2-0 lead, but Stoughton came back with a run in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the second off Sharon starter Jake Fishman to take a 3-2 lead.

Down 3-2 it was Sharon's turn for a comeback, and the Eagles responded  with two runs, as Fishman and Frank Sullivan came around to score to give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. 

In the bottom of the third, Stoughton scored three times, aided by a Sharon error, and took the lead for good. 

"It was a game until we didn't make that play in the middle of the infield on a force at home we threw it away and we just fell apart," Sharon coach Joel Peckham said.

Fishman was on the mound after pitching two innings of relief the day before to close out the Oliver Ames game. He went the first three innings against Stoughton, leaving with a 6-4 deficit. 

"We tried to go with Fishman as long as we could go," Peckham said. "He's our number one. He pitched alright and we didn't support him and they hit the crap out of the ball. They played well. They played better than we did."

Three more runs in the fourth opened the game up, with Stoughton going ahead 9-4. The Black Knights added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Sharon scored twice in the top of the seventh, but it was not enough, as Stoughton held on for a six-run victory.

After allowing four runs in the first three innings, starter Mike Dixon settled down and ended up tossing 6 and 1/3 innings, shutting Sharon down in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as the Stoughton offense broke the game open. 

"We had a great season. We're happy with our season. We're [just] disappointed with the loss," Peckham said.

Sharon ends the season 14-9 (12-8 in the regular season).