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Sports

Marauders Drop Tourney Opener to Westwood

Dedham baseball loses 7-3 to Wolverines Friday afternoon in opening game of the MIAA playoffs.

Tournament baseball is alive and well within the town lines of both Westwood and Dedham as the two battled it out in their first round bout in the Division 3 South Sectionals at Russell E. Downes field in Westwood Friday.

Westwood jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, thanks to the bat of Brett Egizi, who launched a grand slam to right field to open the scoring in the first, while the arms of Will Smith and Brendan Skehill held Dedham in check for the 7-3 Wolverine win.

"We got out to a nice lead," said Westwood skipper Brian Whelan, "and we sustained it."

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The win quickly moves Westwood (12-9) into a second round match-up against Abington Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Abington.

Dedham, who finished their tough Division 1 schedule going  (9-12), qualified for their postseason with a strong non-conference record. Their manager Kevin Quaranto left the game Friday praising his boys for their successful season.

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"Three years ago, these kids were (0-20), these kids battled back," said Quaranto. "Our kids never gave up and I am proud of them for that."

The Marauders have a lot to look forward to with a strong pitching staff returning, which includes Chris DeLouchrey, who went six innings and struck out 12 aggressive Wolverine hitters in the defeat.

“I thought Chris pitched great,” said Quaranto. “He is a gutsy kid - a great kid who battled through a lot, no one knows what he goes through everyday and I respect him and I am proud of him.”

For Westwood, Will Smith was huge in pitching six innings, scattering seven hits and striking out seven Marauders en route to the win.

“I just tried to keep them off balance,” said Smith, “and keep them guessing at which pitch would come next.”

After the win, coach Whelan praised his right fielder Egizi’s timely grand slam, which came after two DeLouchrey strikeouts that put the Wolverines on the heels of leaving the bases loaded without scoring.

“When Brett gets a hold of one, it’s going to go,” said Whelan. “It was key.”

Whelan also had lots of kind words for the kids across the highway, saying, “I like their coach. I like the way they play, they hustle, they are never going to quit over there. Dedham, they are tough kids.”

Dedham will regroup for next year’s team after losing seven seniors on this year’s squad, and coach Quaranto knows there are areas where his team needs to improve.

“We need to get better everywhere, defensively,” said Quaranto. “I think we have a lot coming back.”

For Westwood, Saturday’s afternoon game in Abington proves to be a true test for the hot-hitting Wolverines.

“I think if we keep hitting the way we’ve been hitting we will have a good chance,” said Smith.

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