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LYNN — The Whittier baseball team found magic just days ago, with a shocking seven-run seventh inning to stun Pentucket. Unfortunatly for the Wildcats, however, that magic did not carry into the next round. No. 10 seed Whittier managed just a single hit, falling to No. 6 St. Mary’s of Lynn 4-1 in the Division 3 North semifinals at Fraser Field in Lynn. The Spartans move on to face Austin Prep in the North final on Saturday at LeLacheur Park in Lowell. “I thought we played pretty well,” said Whittier head coach Joe Boland. “But when we hit the ball hard it was right at people. The kids scrapped and stayed in the game, but St. Mary’s was just better than us today.” Whittier grabbed the lead in the second without the benifit of a hit.  Jorge Martinez led off the inning with a walk, the first of four free passes in five batters that ended with Josh Barton walking to force Martinez home. St. Mary’s threatened in both the second and third to tie the game, putting runners at second and third. But both times Whittier ace Austin Toohey was able to escape the jam. The Spartans did take the lead, however, with an RBI double and triple in the fourth. Other than that, Toohey pitched a stellar game. After working in releif on Monday, the senior pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out four. “Toohey pitched a terrific game,” said St. Mary’s head coach Derek Dana. “That is one tough kid who really fought. We had heard he pitched the other day, but he hung in there and I was really impressed. But Toohey just could not match the effort by Spartans pitcher Clay Yianacopolus. The lanky senior allowed just the single hit in six innings, striking out seven. He walked seven but other than the one run wasn’t hurt. “It was a very good pitcher’s duel,” said Boland. “Toohey did a very nice job. We may have over-pitched him a little. They got to him a little bit at the end, but he wouldn’t come out. He wanted to do everything he could for the team and he did a nice job. “This is  a great group that have played for me for a lot of years. I am going to miss them. It was a nice run.”

HAVERHILL — Patrick O’Regan stood stunned between first and second, hands raised over his head and staring at the sky as his teammates sprinted out of the dugout to tackle him. “It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened,” said the Whittier sophomore. “I couldn’t believe it. I said to myself, ‘Did we actually just win this game?’ It was incredible.” Trailing Pentucket by seven runs heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and struggled mightily at the plate, Whittier appeared bound for the offseason, the victim of a lopsided loss to the school that sits just three miles away. Just over 20 minutes later, however, it was the Wildcats that exploded in a wild celebration near home plate. “We did the impossible,” said an overjoyed Craig Delorey. “We scored seven runs in one inning. Greatness! It’s baseball, anything can happen.”  With two outs in the seventh and six runs already in for Whittier, former Pentucket school district student O’Regan smoked a ball to right-center field with barely fell between two diving Sachems. Corey Greaney came sprinting in from third and Whittier walked off with a stunning 9-8 victory over Pentucket in the Division 3 North quarterfinals. The Wildcats advance to play St. Mary’s of Lynn in the Division 3 North semifinals on Wednesday at Fraser Field in Lynn at 7 p.m. “Despite the score we honestly did believe we could win going into the seventh,” said Jorge Martinez. “We knew that we could score runs, and we felt like we could do it. I was just ecstatic. It was truly amazing.” Pentucket came out firing, as three of the first four batters had extra base hits on the way to taking a 2-0 lead after the first. The Sachems tacked on three more in the third, including Cam Wolbach (3 for 4) swiping home on a double-steal.  Whittier began their rally in modest fashion. Winning pitcher Austin Toohey knocked in a run with a single in the third and Martinez plated a run with a double to make it 5-2 after six innings. But back came the Sachems in the top of the seventh as Wolbach, Dave Brindamour and Jackson McKean each drove home runs and Pentucket led 8-2 going into the game’s final half inning. “We looked at each other and said that this game was not over,” said Toohey. “Anything can happen in the playoffs. We never give up here. We had tons of energy. And once some runners got on we could feel something was happening.” Josh Barton walked to opening the inning, then O’Regan was hit by a pitch. “I wasn’t happy because I had been 0 for 2 in the game,” said O’Regan. “But I know that is part of the game and I just shook it off.” That started a run of five straight Wildcats reaching, and Toohey cut the lead to 8-5 with a two-run single. After a fly out, the next two runners reached. Then Delorey hit a screaming ball that deflected off the second baseman’s glove two runners scored to tie the game 8-8. “I was running to first and I saw the bobble and I knew it was a tie game,” said Delorey. “I could feel that something big was happening.” Then up stepped the sophomore O’Regan, a Haverhill resident who attended Pentucket middle school and went to elementary school in Merrimac.  He crushed a ball to the gap in right-center field. Two outfielders lunged, but the ball hit the turf and Greaney — who had walked four batters earlier — slid home. “I just couldn’t believe it,” said O’Regan. “We just kept believing that nothing is impossible if we stick together. I was down when they scored those runs in the seventh, but we kept picking each other up and the result was unbelievable.” O’Regan was treated to a Gatorade bath following the victory as the players celebrated as if they had won the title. “It’s crazy to think we scored seven runs one inning,” said Delorey. “We scored the winning run with two outs. It was greatness. It feels pretty amazing. Anything can happen!” 

Greater Lawrence shocked Whittier in baseball, 3-2. Junior Veras went the distance for the win, alowing just four hits and no earned runs, and Renee Mota made a fantastic game-saving catch in center field in the seventh inning.Yoel Batista had the onlt RBI in the game.

Greater Lawrence shocked Whittier in baseball, 3-2. Junior Veras went the distance for the win, alowing just four hits and no earned runs, and Renee Mota made a fantastic game-saving catch in center field in the seventh inning.Yoel Batista had the onlt RBI in the game.

In Whittier's 6-5 win over Essex Tech, David Pappalardo stroked a bases-clearing triple with two out in the sixth to tie it and Josh Barton rapped a two-run walk-off single in the seventh. Mike Napolitano (3.1 innings) got the win in relief, highlighted by fanning the last two batters to escape a seventh-inning jam.

Whittier collected nine hits and nine runs in the top of the eighth inning for a 12-5 extra-inning win over Greater Lowell. David Pappalardo (2 hits, 2 RBI), Brandon Thibault (2 RBI) and Connor Bradley (3 hits, 3 runs) power Cats.

Austin Toohey had thrown a perfect game going into the seventh inning, and after that was broken up was able to finish off a three-hit gem as Whittier rolled past Greater Lowell 9-1. He struck out 11 and did not walk a batter.

Whittier posted a big non-league 14-8 win over Pentucket of the Cape Ann League. Ralph Francesconi drove in four runs, David Pappalardo three and Connor Bradley three. 

Whittier posted a big non-league 14-8 win over Pentucket of the Cape Ann League. Ralph Francesconi drove in four runs, David Pappalardo three and Connor Bradley three. 

Senior Austin Martinez made a solid mound outing standup with a one-out solo homer to left as Whittier defeated Shawsheen 5-4. Martinez, who allowed six hits while striking out seven and walking none, received major help from David Pappalardo, who blasted a two-run homer that provided a 4-2 lead in the fourth, and Ralph Francesconi's two hits.