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Sports

Mansfield Shuts Out Foxborough Baseball

Jimmy Flaherty went 2-3 against the Hornets while Nick Sestito went 1-3 with a double.

The score alone does not imply a close game but take away one inning of action and the showdown between Foxborough and Mansfield becomes a closer game.

Yet even if you remove the Hornets’ big fifth inning during their 5-0 win over Foxborough Monday, the Warriors still would have needed to find a way to pull ahead instead of keeping things close.

“We’re just staying even with teams in the first three innings instead of getting guys on and putting pressure on them,” Foxborough head coach Billy Sittig said.

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Unable to find anything at the plate, Warriors' pitcher Brandon Fowler did everything he could to keep Mansfield off the scoreboard.

With bases loaded and two outs in the top of the second inning, a strikeout by Fowler ended the early jam for the Warriors.

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Later in the fourth inning, the Warriors faced more pressure from the Hornets with two on and one out. Another strikeout gave the Warriors the second out and Andrew Bukuras was caught trying to steal third to end the inning.

Mansfield continued to put pressure on the Warriors in the top of the fifth inning with a pair of singles by Matt Bukuras and Matt Harris.

The scoreless deadlock was finally shattered with a hit by Steven Wholley (two hits) to allow Chris Buchanan to score and give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.

After intentionally walking Adam Blake (one hit) to load the bases, Michael Farrell’s (three hits) double brought in three runs to give the Hornets a 4-0 lead after five innings. 

"Guys started putting the ball in play and putting pressure on the defense and that’s what we needed to get going,” Mansfield head coach Tim Graham said.

The final run for Mansfield came in the top of the six inning off a single by Chris Buchanan that allowed Sullivan to score.

On the mound, Blake helped prevent the Warriors from threatening the lead during his complete game shutout win. Striking out eight batters and only letting up three hits, Foxborough struggled to make contact against the junior pitcher.

“He’s (Blake) one of the better pitchers in the league, so I knew coming in that he was going to throw the ball well and he’s just going to get better as a junior,” Graham said.

Jimmy Flaherty was one of the few Warriors to have success against Blake today going 2-3. Nick Sestito had the other hit for the Warriors which was a double in the bottom of the fifth inning. 

“He was spotting up his fastball really well," Sittig said of Blake's performance "He was working the outside half. I don’t think we did a great job adjusting to it.”

Fowler pitched six innings and struck out four in the losing effort. The senior pitcher got the Warriors out of a couple of jams but had trouble during the Mansfield fifth inning rally.

“It wasn’t his best performance of the year, but he battled,” commented Sittig.

The Hornets improve to 2-10 overall and 2-8 in league play while the Warriors are now 4-7 overall and 2-6 in league play.

The Warriors face rival North Attleboro in an away game on May 2, while Mansfield will host Sharon on the same day.

The Foxborough High girls' softball team lost to Mansfield, 12-0, in a five inning game Monday in Mansfield.

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