LYNN – Ethan Quan watched Dylan McDermott’s fly land in Max Forristall’s glove in right field, threw his own glove in the air and fell to his knees.
Thanks to his pitching, and some timely hitting from his teammates, North Reading is heading back to the state championship.
Quan pitched a complete-game shutout, and the No. 9 Hornets advanced to the Division 3 baseball championship with a 6-0 semifinal win over the No. 13 Wakefield Warriors on Wednesday at Fraser Field.
North Reading (20-4) will face No. 11 Arlington, a 5-4 semifinal winner over No. 7 Sandwich, in the state finals this weekend at Polar Park in Worcester. The Hornets are going for their first championship since 2012.
“He hunkered down, he attacked the guys in the lineup that we were trying to attack, and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” said North Reading coach Eric Archambault.
Wakefield (18-6) threatened Quan throughout the game, putting runners on base in all but one inning. But Quan responded every time, starting with a strikeout against Aidan Bligh with the bases loaded to end the top of the first inning.
“My coaches and teammates helped me keep the ball low, and that’s what seemed to be effective today,” Quan said. “Off-speed (pitches) seemed to be on today, curveball, changeup. Once we started working that in, and with my great catcher (Matt Mancinelli) behind the plate, anything is possible.”
Quan also induced a foul out with two on in the third, a groundout with two in scoring position in the fifth, and the game-clinching flyout with runners on the corners in the seventh. He allowed six hits in the win, striking out two and intentionally walking Wakefield slugger Jack Pennacchia four times.
“When he gets going, their whole offense gets going,” Archambault said. “We just weren’t going to let him beat us. He’s such a phenomenal baseball player.”
Christian Lava gave Quan the lead in the bottom of the third, as Antonio Ricca walked and Jason Curran (2-for-4, 2 runs) singled with one out. A wild pitch moved each of them up a bag, and Lava singled through the drawn-in infield for a 2-0 lead that chased Wakefield starter Marc Gagne from the mound.
“We have this saying where we think top half (of the baseball) in that situation,” Lava said. “You just think that, and most likely you’re going to get a hit.”
Glenn Mello (2-for-3, RBI, run) added an RBI double in the fourth, and Curran singled and scored on an error in the fifth. A Forristall squeeze made it 5-0 later in the fifth, and Ricca capped the scoring with a sacrifice bunt in the sixth.
Charles Gagne and Andrew Nemec each went 2-for-4 for Wakefield.
