Grafton hosted the East side of the District 5 11YO Tournament that Millbury LL runs.  We would face Shrewsbury AL and NL, Northborough, Westborough, and Southborough.  Auburn, Millbury, Sturbridge, Charlton and Leicester would all compete in the West side of the bracket.  These are great teams that we have faced in past tournaments.  Out of the gate we were not expecting an 0-2 start after tough losses to Shrewsbury NL and Northborough.  We stayed together, rallied in practiced and always believed in our effort, skills and teamwork. 

Here is how we did it!

Shrewsbury NL 11 - Grafton 6

Grafton would put up two runs as the visiting team, but NL would answer in the 1^st Inning, loudly scoring 6 runs.  Although Grafton answered by scoring in each inning except the 6^th, Shrewsbury NL kept responding by continually getting one more run than the good guys.  Grafton came up short in search of   that timely hit.

Johnathan Schiappa, Charlie Law, Kyle Brown, Sean Griffin and Ian Ouellette would all collect hits for Grafton.  CJ Chagnon both walked and scored three times.

Schiappa put all the teams in the district on alert to not steal on him, throwing out two runners at 2^nd from the catcher position.

Northborough 7 – Grafton 6 (7 Innings)

Grafton got outscored early in this game again as Northborough jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead after two innings. CJ Chagnon would come in relief throwing 4 innings of 1 run ball striking out 6 to give the offense a chance to make a comeback. We did make some noise late as Aiden Wykes came up with a clutch two RBI single scoring Sean Griffin and Asher Petrie in the 4^th cutting the deficit to 6-4.  In the 6^th after a leadoff single by Chagnon, and a Jonathan Schiappa double, Kyle Brown delivered the game tying knock with a deep double to right field.  The excitement would end there for the night as Northborough placed one home in the 7^th for the walk off win.  Northborough would later finish their pool play games  at a perfect 5-0 record.

Chagnon, Schiappa (double), Brown (single, double), Haylan Oberg (2 hits), Sean Griffin (2 hits), Asher Petrie (2 hits) and Aiden Wykes would pace the offense for night. 

Grafton 4 – Shrewsbury AL 3

It’s not always fun nor the best idea squaring up against one of your fiercest rivals within the district with a tournament record of 0-2. We have routinely played close epic games against Shrewsbury in the past, but that is what we were faced with on this day.  Kyle Brown took the mound and delivered 5IP striking out 5 giving up 4 hits and 2ERs.  Asher Petrie would lock down the save stranding the tying run at first with no outs.  The team showed off their extra work from practices wowing the fans by flashing some serious defensive leather. Charlie Law’s highlight reel defensive diving play at shortstop snagging the ball going up the middle to get the force-out and the games’ final out.

CJ Chagnon, Jonathan Schiappa, Kyle Brown (single, double 3RBI) and Ian Ouellette (double) would pace the Grafton offense. 

Grafton 13 – Westborough 9

After getting the teams first win in the tournament, we looked to keep the ball rolling along in a matchup vs Westborough.  Another team we have faced in past tournaments, usually playing a close low scoring game.  Not the case this day.  Grafton fell behind early to a 9-1 deficit.  Some Grafton misplays and good offensive baseball on the other side were the causes here.  Doubt started to creep into the Grafton dugout.  For the first three innings we struggled to keep an offensive inning alive or get off the field defensively.  Seeing that the game was close to a mercy rule, Grafton coaches pulled in the players for one last reminder of who we were, why we were AllStars, what we stand for and who we were playing for.  THEY RESPONDED!  Each player for the next two innings contributed a key at bat.  A walk, a hit, or a run scoring play.  Teamwork at its finest.  Down 9-5 in the bottom of the 5^th, momentum has certainly shifted to the Grafton side.  Asher Petrie and Haylan Oberg provided key RBI’s scoring Ian Ouellette, Liam Cohen, CJ Chagnon and Jonathan Schiappa.  With the game and score tied at 9, two outs and bases loaded, Tyler Cushman arrives to the plate.  Tyler crushed the ball to the rightfield corner scoring all three base runners and putting Grafton ahead 12-9, Tyler would later score on a wild pitch to make it 13-9.  (This sequence can also be found on our Instagram page, check it out!)  Charlie Law would finish off his 3^rd inning of relief and secure the win for Grafton in the top of the 6^th.  This win was a result of the players heart, desire and willingness to compete given the deficit they put themselves in.  It was a hard-fought victory.  Grafton’s tournament record is now at 2-2 and the team is off for the 4^th of July holiday.

Chagnon, Schiappa, Law, Oberg (2 hits), Petrie (2 hits), Cushman (2 hits) all paced the hitting attack on this day. 

Grafton 14 - Southborough 0

The offense ruled the day batting through the lineup in the first inning putting up seven runs and then adding four more in the second and three in the third.  Kyle Brown tossed an impressive 4IP 2H 5K 0R 0BB for the complete game win. Jonathan Schiappa also caught his third runner of the tournament trying to steal 2^nd base.

Chagnon, Schiappa, Brown, Oberg, and Cushman all scored twice for Grafton. Oberg led the charge with three RBI’s. 

Grafton finished 3-2 in pool play and placed third overall securing a first-round bye in the single elimination bracket part of the tournament.

Grafton 5 – Shrewsbury NL 2

In game one of the single elimination bracket Grafton had a rematch with Shrewsbury NL.  NL defeated Grafton in game one of pool play and Grafton was looking to even the score.  Kyle Brown took the mound for Grafton and pitched 5 magnificent innings while remaining under 65 total pitches.  This allowed Kyle to be eligible for a potential Championship game on Saturday.  The infield defense of Asher Petrie, Sean Griffin, Charlie Law, CJ Chagnon and Haylan Oberg recorded 15 of the games 18 outs.  CJ Chagnon pitched the 6^th inning for the save.

The offense opened the game with five straight hits while scoring four times in the first inning, from Chagnon (double), Law (double), Schiappa, Brown (double) and Oberg for the highlight of the night.

Grafton 9 – Millbury 8  (8 Innings)

The semi final game put second seed and undefeated Millbury up against third seed Grafton.  Millbury had defeated Auburn earlier in the week.  Grafton’s first inning offense put up six runs.  Early on, the big bats of Sean Griffin and Aiden Wykes collected two RBI singles each.  Millbury didn’t back down and charged back at us scoring 5 times during their inning.  Our defense was not up to the challenge early in the game.  Their response quieted our bats until late. Millbury would end up taking the lead in the 2^nd and Grafton would later tie the game in the 4^th.  Sean Griffin scored again off a Wykes hit.  The team benefitted off a huge relief pitching performance from Asher Petrie tossing 5 1/3 IP allowing 1 run and 2 hits and striking out 8 batters. In the 6^th inning down a run, Kyle Brown had an 11 pitch at bat resulting in a single to centerfield.  When Petrie came to the plate Grafton was down a run with two outs and Brown was on second base.  Petrie crushed a 1-2 pitch high and deep into the right field corner for a triple which scored the game tying run.  After a scoreless 7^th inning from both teams still tied with the score at 8-8, Liam Cohen and CJ Chagnon led off the top of the 8^th with singles to left field.  Brown knocked Cohen in with a single giving Grafton the lead at 9-8.  After Millbury led off the bottom of the 8^th with a single, Chagnon was brought to the mound to close the game.  With two outs and runners on second and third, the coaches decided to intentionally walk the number three hitter to get the bases loaded, hoping to induce a groundball force out.  Chagnon forced the batter to ground out to Petrie for the out at third.  Ball game over!  Asher Petrie was deservingly recognized as the player of the game for his outstanding performance on the mound, at the plate and in the field.

Chagnon (3 hits), Brown (2 hits), Griffin (2 hits), Wykes (2 hits) shined on offense.

Jonathan Schiappa threw out his 4^th baserunner trying to steal on him this tournament, this time getting the runner out at third for a key out in the 3^rd inning.  He also was remarkable catching all 8 innings in the win.

Grafton 9 – Westborough 3

Grafton would be facing Westborough in the Championship game and the rights to be named District 5 Tournament Champions.  Westborough defeated Charlton to get to this game.  In the previous matchup Grafton bested Westborough, behind the clutch blast of Tyler Cushman’s bases clearing triple. The Championship game had two very skilled teams playing against each other, however, each team had to battle the 100 degree heat.  The Grafton community came out in force, the fans, families, neighbors, friends, fellow league players all came out to cheer on and support these boys.  Given the elements it was a classic Grafton Little League moment.

Kyle Brown again took the mound and was masterful.  Pitching a complete game gem and earning Tournament’s MVP honor.  Aiden Wykes and Zach Otis started the offense this day coming through with 2^nd inning RBI singles.  Charlie Law would help get the offense going in the next inning and Sean Griffin would tack on another key RBI single.

Charlie Law, Haylan Oberg, Asher Petrie, Sean Griffin (2 hits), Ian Ouellette, Zach Otis and Liam Cohen all led the team in hits for the day.

The play of the game was the game’s final out when centerfielder Zach Otis charged a base hit with a runner on first to alertly make the throw to 2^nd base for the game’s final out.  Again, the video can be seen on the Grafton Little League Instagram account.

The coaches and parents could not be prouder of these twelve players and this team and their accomplishment of District 5 Tournament Champions.