Sullivan Sustains Sharon, Shuts Out Canton

With a victory necessary to keep alive his team’s playoff hopes, Sharon baseball senior captain Frank Sullivan ascended to the pitcher’s mound on Tuesday at Eagle Ballpark and recalled Head Coach Joel Peckham’s message to the squad from throughout the season: play with confidence and have fun on the diamond.

Backed by sharp infield defense and timely two-out hitting, Sullivan delivered his finest performance as an Eagle, blanking visiting Davenport Division foe Canton in a complete-game, ten-strikeout effort. The righthander eliminated the Bulldogs from postseason contention, surrendering just three hits and a lone walk in a 3-0 Sharon victory.

“It was a very important win for us,” said Peckham. “It was one of the better games we’ve played and pitched all year long. Frank was in complete control. He threw strikes. He was outstanding. That, combined with timely hitting and good defense, made it a great win.”

Sullivan said, “As it gets towards the end of the season, as a senior, you kind of realize, ‘Well, this is kind of it. Everything that I’ve done is working towards this point. I’m not trying to reach that further echelon, as I know I’m not playing college baseball. So just go out there and have fun.’”

On a beautiful afternoon for baseball in Sharon, Eagles senior captain Will Ginsberg mustered the first hit by either side in the bottom of the second inning, off of Canton sophomore righthander Kevin Powers. Eagles senior Colton Bader followed with a single, advancing Ginsberg to third, and then stole second base.

With two outs and two Eagles in scoring position, senior captain Drew Maidment stepped to the plate. Maidment, the #8 hitter in the Sharon lineup, knocked a single back up the box and into center field, plating Ginsberg and Bader.

Maidment says that he had not been hitting well the prior couple of games. “I just decided, ‘You know what? This is my time.’ People were there watching me, supporting me.

“I was tired of losing. I didn’t want the season to end, my senior year to end, like that. I just decided to take matters into my own hands, basically. It felt really good to get that hit past the shortstop,” Maidment added.

Maidment took second on the throw home, and advanced to third and scored on wild pitches to provide Sharon a 3-0 advantage after two innings. For a squad that had averaged 2.3 runs per game over its previous seven outings, six defeats, Sharon’s offering its starter a cushion was welcomed by Sullivan.

Already having retired the first six Canton batters, Sullivan says that he felt empowered by the run support. “You say, ‘Wow, now I’m in this position. I’m going to get the W; we’re in line for it.’ You have to buckle down and say, ‘I will not let up those runs, and we’ll win this game,’” he said.

Bulldog senior Wyatt Golledge reached base to lead off the Canton third, but Sullivan escaped the inning two batters later. With Golledge on second and one out, Arthur McNally lined a ball to first base. Sharon senior Michael Birschbach snagged the liner and fired to second base. Racing over from his shortstop position, junior Jacob Milley dug the ball from the dirt and beat Golledge back to the bag for the double play.

Canton senior leadoff hitter Sam Larson singled to open the fourth inning and stole second, but Sullivan retired junior Pat Vartanian on a flyout and fanned senior Kevin O’Brien and Powers to retire the side.

Maidment, Sharon’s catcher, says that Sullivan has struggled during stretches of the season, but found his groove and flourished on Tuesday. “He has been an unbelievable competitor. He threw the ball incredibly, hit every spot. His curveball was amazing. No one could touch him,” Maidment said.

“I know I have the physical tools,” Sullivan said. “It just comes down to whether I have the confidence out there, whether I’m thinking right. If I can concentrate on the mound, I start to really pin my spots, snap the curveball down, and everything works for me. When I get in my rhythm, it’s hard to get me out of it. Once I get hot, I’m usually pretty good at staying hot.”

Sullivan pointed to his throwing 69% first-pitch strikes as a pivotal factor in his success. The Eagles did not score the rest of the way, with Powers pitching a complete game, but Sullivan also held down the Bulldogs during the fast-paced ballgame.

Peckham said, “Frankie was unbelievable. I was amazed. He pitched like a number-one. He had complete command, good curveball, kept the ball down. It was great to see him be so calm on the mound. It was ten times more than I expected.”

Canton defeated Sharon earlier this month, 5-4, in Canton, and Maidment says that the Bulldogs played the Eagles tough again on Tuesday. “Canton played well. They made some good plays. They played good, hard baseball. They pitched well. They hit the ball at points, but they just couldn’t touch Frank,” Maidment said.

To secure a tournament berth, Sharon (6-10, 6-9 Hockomock) needs to win its remaining three games: at Seekonk (Wednesday), vs. Franklin (Friday), and vs. Hamilton-Wenham (Sunday).

Peckham says that the Seekonk game will be “the real test”. Peckham will be sending junior Ryan Riley, who he says has the “potential to be a shutdown pitcher”, to the hill against a strong Warriors squad. Ginsberg, a lefthander, would follow on the mound on Friday, and Sullivan would take the ball again on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

“Seekonk is going to be tough,” Sullivan said. “Riley is definitely going to have to pitch really, really well for us to win that one. We just have to keep that positive energy, that momentum going. Once we win Wednesday, we win Friday and we win Sunday. We’ve just got to take it one at a time.”

Peckham noted that Sharon Asst. Head Coach Kee Arguimbau, Sharon High ’98, has been relating to the team the story of Arguimbau’s senior season. That year, the Eagles scuffled early in the campaign but strung together several late-season victories to secure a tournament berth.

“I’m very hopeful and positive,” Peckham said. “If we win [Wednesday], I think we’ll win all 3 games. That would be something to come back and win all those games. One game at a time.”

Sullivan emphasized the need for Sharon to continue to approach each game as its own entity, rather than taking a longer-range view.

“If we play every single game with the mentality that we played with today, of ‘We are the better team’, and we have the confidence of that, we’ll win every game - we’ll win out and make the tourney,” he said. “We need to take it on a game-by-game basis.”