Westford Academy baseball team sees undefeated season ended in tourney

Ryan Swinamer (10) hugs a teammate after Westford Academy suffered its first loss of the season Sunday. (Courtesy photo)

WESTFORD — Less than 24 hours earlier, the Westford Academy baseball team’s late heroics punched its ticket to the Elite 8, extending an undefeated season.

However, the No. 3 Ghosts (20-1) weren’t able to replicate that magic on Sunday, falling to No. 6 St. John’s Shrewsbury, 10-3, in Division 1 Elite 8 action.

“We had a great season (with) a great group of kids who’ve fought their butts off in every single game,” said Westford head coach Mike Parent. “I’m not going to let today’s game define the season that they had.”

Throughout Westford’s undefeated regular season, the Ghosts never allowed more than five runs in one game and committed just 12 errors. On Sunday, St.John’s Shrewsbury (19-4) didn’t care about statistics. The visitors posted 10 runs and took advantage of six Westford errors.

“We had twelve errors in twenty games this year, and today we had six, which is so uncharacteristic (for us),” admitted Parent. “Give St. John’s credit, they hit the ball, they ran, and they forced us into mistakes. We got rattled, which we haven’t all year.”

Westford was able to strike first, scoring two runs in the second inning when Nicolas Bonica pelted a line drive past the third baseman that plated James McDermott and Kush Gami.

From there, the Ghosts struggled to string together hits, collecting just four the rest of the way. The combination of Shrewsbury’s Brady Shea (7.0 IP, 5K) and its strong defensive performance made it even harder for the Westford attack.

“I thought we hit the ball well, they played very good defense,” said Parent. “I was very happy with the way we were swinging the bats today.”

Westford’s Jake Cullen cruised through the opening pair of innings in 1-2-3 fashion, posting three strikeouts.

The St. John’s bats started to connect in the third, ignited by a James Benestad inside-the-park home run that scored Pearson Dodds to tie the game, forcing the first of six errors for Westford.

As the errors began to pile up, St. John’s sent 10 batters to the plate in a fifth inning that brought home six runs, including a misplayed rundown between third base and home plate.

Matt Morash laced an RBI triple in the seventh to score Ben Mulgrew, but it was too little, too late for the Ghosts.

Morash and Mulgrew are two of seven Westford Academy seniors who have laid quite the foundation of the program. Between the last two seasons, the 2023 senior class enjoyed a 39-3 combined record.

“That’s a pretty good legacy that they’ve left behind, and we got some underclassmen that are going to be a big part of carrying that through,” said Parent.

“They truly enjoyed the game of baseball, they just loved it,” Parent added of his seniors. “They loved being around each other, they loved their two-hour practices, (and) they had fun. That doesn’t happen with every group, but these kids just love the game.”

Although Westford came up just short of completing a perfect season, Parent and his coaching staff are proud of the group.

“Just a great group of kids to coach,” he said. “It was fun coming to practice every day, and that’s what sports should be.”