TAUNTON — Last spring, Durfee saw its season end at the hands of a Taunton team in the midst of a baseball dynasty. In 2024, the Hilltoppers had no intention of letting that continue.
Fueled by a near complete game from starting pitcher Jayden Souza, Durfee took a 6-1 victory over the Tigers to advance to the Elite Eight of the Division I state tournament. This ensures that Taunton will not claim a third consecutive title and fourth in five seasons.
Hilltoppers head coach Mike Martin said this was a year in the making. He had his team watch the Tigers celebrate the victory last year and used that as motivation for this squad to change the result.
“This is like our big brother,” Martin said. “We were going to be ready to play, we were going to show up. It worked out.”
No. 11 Durfee (18-4) put up two runs quickly in the first. Ben Sherry started with a single and eventually scored on an Aidan Travers single. One at-bat later, Matt Sherry singled him in.
“This whole game revolved around that two we put up in the first inning,” Martin said. “This team intimidates you before pitch one with how they carry themselves.”
This led to the start of Souza’s memorable day on the mound, and he said that entering with that lead was huge for his confidence.
“I was really just trying to come out here and get a dub,” Souza said. “My team got timely hits for me. It was really easy for me pitching with a lead.”
He was extremely sharp, shutting down No. 6 Taunton (19-4) for the first six innings. The Tigers managed just five hits and a single walk through the first six innings, with the last point being something Souza took extra pride in.
“Walks are the one thing that a team can’t defend against,” Souza said. “As long as I limit my walks and throw strikes, that’s what helps us win.”
Durfee added a third run in the fifth and exploded for three runs in the seventh. Jeyden Espinal and Souza each drew free passes before singles from Travers and Joe Silvia provided the damage.
The Tigers finally got on the board in the seventh, hitting four consecutive singles after a leadoff out to put a run on the board. This led to Souza coming out and Travers being put in a very difficult position as the relief pitcher.
Tigers third baseman Caden Lindskog battled into a 3-2 count before smoking a line drive right at Travers. In that moment, the reliever had one thing on his mind.
“I just had to catch it and make the out,” Travers said. “Then I could make the double play.”
That’s exactly what he did, doubling up the runner at first to send Durfee home with the win.
“It’s huge that we came out here and beat the back-to-back state champs, but we want to keep going,” Souza said. “We are trying to stack wins on top of this and take it one game at a time.”
