A Chelmsford Division 1 baseball championship 59 years and nine innings in the making
But to give the town its long-awaited triumph, the 14th-seeded Lions (19-8) needed their superstar — senior Matt Stuart — to put in a herculean effort. That's exactly what the Gardner-Webb committed righthander did.
Stuart fired a complete game, striking out six and surrendering just a pair of runs, and added three hits and a run at the plate.
End 7: Chelmsford 2, Braintree 2
After surrendering a leadoff single, Matt Stuart strikes out the side to send this game to extras in his seventh inning of work. Polar Park is absolutely bumping.
Free baseball in the D1 final.
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
Stuart ran into trouble in both the seventh and eighth innings, with the Wamps (16-9) having chances to walk it off, but picked up big inning-ending strikeouts each time.
'He's the best player in Massachusetts, and I'll argue with anybody who says he's not,' coach Lou DiStasi said. 'He's probably the best player to ever come through Chelmsford High School, and for him to earn a state title is the greatest thing ever.'
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Freshman Aidan Brackett provided the go-ahead single in the ninth, kickstarting a six-run rally. Senior Matt Hall followed with a sacrifice fly to score Stuart, then a two-run single from senior John Latham (3 hits, 2 2B) served as the dagger.
Advertisement
Freshman Aidan Brackett drives this single to left, putting Chelmsford ahead, 3-2, in the top of the ninth.
He looked to be hurt earlier in the game, stayed in, and now delivers in the clutch.
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera)
'I always knew our bats were going to come through eventually,' Stuart said. 'That's what our team's done, we've just battled all year. We were the 14th seed, and we just won the state championship.'
Stuart's final complete game finished off a phenomenal postseason run — he fired shutouts against No. 19 Shrewsbury and No. 11 Wellesley to reach this round, with senior Finn Ramseyer winning the Lions' other two games against No. 3 Bishop Feehan and No. 2 St. John's (Shrewsbury).
Advertisement
Chelmsford's Matthew Hall dives back to first base as Braintree first baseman Sean Canavan awaits the pickoff throw.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
In all, Stuart fired 23 innings in three playoff starts, allowed just two runs, and struck out 18.
'He's the best for a reason,' Brackett said. 'He's going to Gardner-Webb for a reason. He's the best we've got. He's done it all season. I mean, speechless, honestly. He's just an absolute beast out there.'
Sophomore Luke Joyce fired 6⅓ innings of two-run ball for Braintree, senior Peter Brooks added three hits and a run, and senior Matt Rogers added two hits and the tying RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Braintree's Drew DiStasi (7) celebrates a run as the Chelmsford catcher Aidan Brackett looks on.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Chelmsford's Matthew Hall (10) reacts after committing an out at second base.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Braintree fans cheer on their team during the Division 1 baseball championship at Polar Park.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Mike Puzzanghera can be reached at
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
The Athletic projects where Auburn's Ike Irish will land in 2025 MLB draft
The Athletic projects where Auburn's Ike Irish will land in 2025 MLB draft Irish's draft stock continues to trend upward. The draft stock of Auburn iron man Ike Irish continues to rise as The Athletic has given him his highest projection yet. Keith Law of The Athletic placed Irish in the top 10 of his latest MLB mock draft, released Thursday, pairing him with the Cincinnati Reds with the No. 9 overall pick. Irish is primarily a catcher, but he played several other positions including first base, left field, and right field. Many clubs see Irish as just a catcher, but Law feels that franchises are coming around to the idea of drafting Irish as a slugging outfielder. Irish is one of two names who've really seemed to move up over the last month or so, as teams have become more comfortable with the idea of just taking Irish — who has only caught a couple of games since he missed two weeks in March with a fractured scapula — as an outfielder and letting him go rake. I would bet more on the Reds going with a college player than a high school one, and could see them on Kyson Witherspoon, Wehiwa Aloy or maybe Tyler Bremner. Irish enjoyed his best season in an Auburn uniform this season by hitting .364 with 19 home runs, 58 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. He slugged .710 and hit .317 when putting balls in play. In 214 at bats, Irish struck out 14.3% of the time and walked 12.8% of the time, and logged 34 extra-base hits. Cincinnati is the second National League Central club tied to Irish via mock draft. Earlier this week, USA TODAY Sports paired Irish with the Milwaukee Brewers at No. 20 overall. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
8 hours ago
Mullins and Sánchez hit back-to-back home runs to key Orioles' 6-5 victory over Angels
BALTIMORE -- Cedric Mullins and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back home runs to give Baltimore the lead and Félix Bautista finished off the Orioles' 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday with his second straight save. Mullins hit his 11th home run, a two-run shot off Angels starter Tyler Anderson in the sixth, and Sánchez followed with his first homer with the Orioles for a 6-4 lead. Bautista topped 100 mph for the first time since 2023 on a fastball to Mike Trout before Trout flied to right field for the second out in the ninth. Bautista walked Taylor Ward before striking out Logan O'Hoppe on the ninth pitch of the at-bat and his 22nd pitch in the inning. Bautista has 14 saves in 15 opportunities. Trout homered high off the foul pole in left field after Zach Neto drew a leadoff walk from Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first. It was his 11th home run this season and the 389th of his career. LA's Luis Rengifo hit solo homers from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career after entering with just one on the season. He homered off lefty Keegan Akin to give the Angels a 4-3 lead in the sixth and again off right-hander Andrew Kittredge in the eighth to cut it to 6-5. Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg had RBI singles in the third to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead. Anderson (2-4) allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings. He is 0-4 in 10 starts since beating the Giants on April 18. Sugano gave up three runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Akin (2-0) got four outs, including the final one in the fifth with the bases loaded to keep it tied at 3. Mullins has been involved in three of the Orioles' six back-to-back homers this season. Baltimore rookie Coby Mayo had his first multi-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a double for his first extra-base hit at home. Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-5, 2.92) will try to prevent a sweep when he starts Sunday's series finale against Orioles LHP Cade Povich (1-5, 5.46).
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Yankees' rally stalls after brutal gaffe in another loss to Red Sox
Access the Yankees beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. Try it free BOSTON — The Yankees came out flatter than Lance Dobbins' professional baseball portfolio. And then once they finally got a rally going, they killed it quicker than it started because of a boneheaded play. The result was a second straight loss to the Red Sox, 4-3, on a chilly Saturday night when Hunter Dobbins shut them down across six shutout innings in front of a sold-out Fenway Park. 6 Jasson Domínguez reacts dejectedly after getting picked off in the seventh inning of the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on June 14, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post Dobbins, who made headlines over the past week by talking about his hatred for the Yankees and detailing his father Lance's professional baseball career that turned out to be built on falsehoods, silenced the Yankees' bats. 6 Marcelo Mayer hits a sacrifice fly for the Red Sox during their win against the Yankees on June 14. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post 6 Carlos Rodón reacts during the Yankees' loss to the Red Sox on June 14. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post They mustered just two hits and one walk against the Red Sox rookie right-hander, who struck out five and only allowed one runner to reach scoring position all night. Once Dobbins left the game, the Yankees (42-27) finally showed signs of life. 6 Trevor Story reaches second base safely during the Red Sox's win against the Yankees. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post 6 Aaron Judge reacts after striking out during the Yankees' loss to the Red Sox. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post Their first two batters of the seventh inning reached on walks and came around to score on RBI singles from Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells that cut the Red Sox' 4-0 lead in half. But there were two outs when Domínguez was on second and Wells on first as Trent Grisham swung through a 2-1 pitch. 6 Hunter Dobbins throws a pitch during the Red Sox's win against the Yankees. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post Domínguez, perhaps thinking it was strike three, was caught standing flat-footed in no-man's land between second and third base. Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez threw down to second as Domínguez took off for third, but he did not get there in time to avoid making the final out and ending the rally in brutal fashion.
