Published in the July 12, 2021 edition.
WAKEFIELD — On two warm days in March, about 60 7th and 8th grade students tried out for the Galvin Generals Junior Select baseball team and 14 boys were chosen: Aidan Bligh, Nate Brisette, Cam Deprizio, Nik Dhingra, Charles Gagne, Marc Gagne, Luke Greif, Aidan Martin, Andrew Martin, Dylan McDermott, Sean O’Rourke, Jack Pennachia and William Stanley.
The Galvin Generals played in the Middlesex Big Diamond League against teams from Wilmington, Woburn, Stoneham, North Reading and Lynnfield. Each team played the other three times in the regular season. The Generals won 11 games and lost only four, finishing in second place behind Wilmington.
The Generals came from behind in two of their games which made for exciting wins. In their second game, the Generals scored four runs in the bottom of the last inning to walk off the field with a win against Woburn and they also had a nine-run 5th inning in a game against Wilmington that led to a win.
In the playoffs, the Generals earned a bye after finishing in second place so they automatically made it to the second round. The playoffs were double elimination, and the Generals unfortunately lost to Woburn in that second round, however, they were not out because they had to lose twice.
The Generals won their next two games against Stoneham and North Reading, so at this point there were only three teams left in the playoffs: Wilmington, Woburn, and Wakefield. Wakefield and Wilmington both had one loss in the playoffs and Woburn hadn’t lost yet. This meant that Woburn was automatically in the championship and Wakefield had to beat Wilmington to make it to the championship. Wakefield ended up losing to Wilmington in the end in a very tight game and Wilmington went on to beat Woburn in the championship.
The Galvin players were very thankful for their coaches, Ty Bramer and Eric Martin, who told them to believe in themselves and each other. Coach Bramer, who is also an 8th grade math teacher at the Galvin said, “Being new to the community, it was hard to know what to expect from the team, especially when we knew that there was a high caliber of baseball being played in the area but within the first week or two, we all knew we had something special with this group. Throughout the season, different guys contributed in important spots and all 14 of them demonstrated what it meant to be an All-Star. They were intelligent, resilient and played the game the right way. I could not be more proud of the way they handled adversity and the example this group set for the program for years to come.”
Everyone enjoyed a season-ending barbecue and wiffle ball game and will take away great memories of this Galvin Generals team.
