WORCESTER – For the first time in 60 years, a rematch in the Division 1 state final is on deck.
Austin Campbell threw five shutout innings while Esig Chin collected a pair of hits and scored two runs as No. 1 Franklin blanked No. 21 Methuen, 4-0, on Tuesday night at Holy Cross to earn a date with Hockomock Kelley-Rex foe Taunton in the championship game.
Franklin will look to avenge last year’s defeat at the hands of the Tigers in the final game. It’s the first Division 1 state title rematch in Massachusetts since 1962-63 when Chicopee beat Somerville in consecutive seasons.
“I think we have great leadership,” Franklin coach Zach Brown said. “It hasn’t always been easy, especially with off the field situations, but guys have stayed together. I am really proud of their effort.”
The win provided a sliver of joy in an otherwise emotionally turbulent time for Franklin. For the second time this spring the Panthers lost a classmate as sophomore Anthony Gates died in a car accident on Wednesday night. His team’s resolve through heartbreak has brought comfort to Brown.
“I think a lot of times these guys use baseball as their sanctuary,” Brown said. “They come to practice, come through the gates, and it all dissolves away … then it ends and reality hits. There’s a real brotherhood with this group. They’re connected. Looking out for one another. And that’s what makes me the most proud.”
Franklin (23-3) struck for a pair in the bottom of the first as three singles, a balk, and a pair of free passes allowed Esig Chin and Henry DiGiorgio to cross the plate and put the Panthers up 2-0. The Panthers added single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth. In the third Rex Cinelli’s RBI groundout scored Luke Sidwell and in the fourth Chin doubled and later crossed home on a Ben Jarosz sacrifice fly.
That was all the support Campbell and reliever Dillon Cashin needed. Campbell scattered three hits and fanned seven to work around four walks. He stranded two runners in the second and fifth innings and left the bases loaded in the third. Cashin came on and worked out of trouble in the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh.