Hinkell, Blue Devils Rout Sutton in D5 State Tourney
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Drury’s bats came alive in the third inning, and its starting pitcher put the opposition to sleep in a Division 5 State Tournament rout on Sunday afternoon at Joe Wolfe Field.
Connor Hinkell struck out 10 and scattered three hits in 5 and one-third innings of work on the mound as the eighth-seeded Blue Devils (17-4) advanced to the Sweet 16 with a sweet 15-2 win over Sutton.
Hinkell helped his cause with a triple; Julian Feliciano was 3-for-4 with a double and Carson Rylander went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs on a day when eight different Blue Devils had at least one hit.
For Drury, the weekend matinee was just what the doctor ordered after a 3-2 loss to crosstown rival McCann Tech in the Western Massachusetts Class C title game the last time out.
That setback snapped a titanic 13-game winning streak for Drury. The Blue Devils now hope Sunday’s win starts a new streak with their next game coming on a date to be announced against No. 9 Hopkins Academy (12-9), a 6-5 winner over West Boylston on Sunday.
“It’s about how you respond and the next time out,” Drury coach Rob Jutras said of bouncing back from the Western Mass final. “Our focus was on just playing good baseball and being our our best version.”
Drury’s offense got a jump on things with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Rylander and Hinkell drew back-to-back walks with one out. Gladu reached on a fielder’s choice, but Sutton’s attempt at a double play ended up in an errant throw to first that allowed Rylander to score and left Gladu on second.
Feliciano’s double to right drove in Gladu to make it 2-0.
It stayed that way until the third, when Drury collected eight hits and 12 runs to put the game away.
Hinkell tripled in Rylander, who reached on an outfield error, to start the rally. Gladu, Feliciano, J.J. Prenguber, Lucas Hamilton and Colby Malloy each had a hit in addition to Rylander’s two-run double when he made his second plate appearance of the inning.
In the fourth, Noah Arnold led off with a single and ended up scoring on a ground ball by Gladu to put Drury ahead, 15-0.
Hinkell left after striking out the first hitter he saw in the top of the fifth. Arnold and Jake McAlister finished up on the mound.
“Connor looked great,” Jutras said. “He was working ahead with his fastball and trying to mix his secondary stuff in for strikes. He was just in attack mode all day long.
“I think it takes him to a different level when he can make all three for strikes – and competitive strikes, too, spots where we want him. He was good today.”