This afternoon, Deerfield’s baseball and softball teams will travel to away sites to begin their quests for New England Championship crowns. No. 3 baseball will travel to Worcester Academy’s Gaskell Field to play No. 2 Exeter in a neutral site semifinal game in the Blackburn Championship Tournament at 5:00pm. No. 5 softball travels to Watertown, CT to face-off against No. 4 Taft in the Class A WNEPSGSBA tournament play-in game.
Baseball finished league play with a 6-6 record and qualified for the league’ Blackburn Championship Tournament by clinching the #3 seed in the final Central New England Prep School Baseball League rankings. It the first time since 2013 that the Big Green have qualified for the Blackburn Championship Tournament.
Earlier this season, the Big Green and Big Red faced off in a double-header, which resulted in both sides exchanging wins. Exeter took the first game by a score of 4-19 and Deerfield rallied in the second game to defeat the Big Red 7-3.
The other semifinal game will feature No. 1 Andover vs. No. 4 Worcester. The winner of today’s semifinal games will advance to the championship game. The date, time and location for the championship have yet to be set. Stay tuned.
Softball qualified for the post-season play in back-to-back seasons. Facing No. 4 Taft on the road as the No. 5 seed is familiar territory for the Big Green who, were in this same position in last year’s post-season bracket. In 2017, the Doors fell to the Rhinos 2-4 in their playoff matchup. However, earlier this season the Big Green defeated Taft 3-0. Senior co-captain Meaghan O’Brien led the way for the Big Green in the victory, pitching a perfect game. This year’s victory snapped an 11 year winless drought against the Rhinos. Prior to this season, the last time the Big Green defeated Taft was in the spring of 2007, 14-13. With one streak already snapped this season, the Big Green have their sights set on continuing a new streak of their own this afternoon.
The Class A WNEPSGSBA semifinal games are slated for this Saturday, May 19. The time and location are to be determined.
We look forward to continuing to watch both teams compete in the post-season! Good luck!