Pitching and defense have stood as the pillars of strength for the Norwood High School baseball team this season. (photo: 1991 TIOT)
Yesterday, however, Norwood displayed sheer offensive firepower. Norwood banged out 16 hits and took strategic advantage of 12 walks to knock off Hingham High School, 18-4, in a Division 1 South sectional quarterfinal game.
With this victory, Norwood (16-6) moves on to meet Falmouth High School (15-7) in the semifinals tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Braintree High School.
The vast majority of Norwood’s explosive offensive power surged from the fifth through eighth hitters in the batting order. Third baseman Steve Cohen went 4 for 6 at the plate with three RBI, designated hitter Joe Montesano finished a perfect 4 for 4 with an RBI, and right fielder Craig Douglas went 3 for 4 while driving in two runs.
“Today was our day,” said Norwood coach Pete Wall. “Tomorrow, it might have been a different story. To beat Durfee, Hingham had to be a good team. We just had a good, all-around effort, and I hope we can keep it going.”
“I hope people don’t look at the Durfee game as a fluke,” stated Hingham coach John Garrigan. “I’m disappointed we weren’t more competitive today, but Norwood was a good hitting team. The whole secret was our pitchers’ inability to get the ball over the plate. We haven’t been wild like that in a long time. We weren’t in double figures in walks all year. That was not good.”
The Hingham Harbormen initially seized a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Fred Darling singled to right field, Steve Agostino executed a successful sacrifice hit, and Matt Carnes drove Darling home with a single.
Norwood answered swiftly in the bottom of the second inning, plating five runs on five hits. The rally was highlighted by consecutive two-run singles courtesy of Douglas and John Palumbo, rocketing the Mustangs to a 5-1 lead.
Darling singled in another run for Hingham in the top of the third to close the gap to 5-2, but Norwood’s Steve Grenham pushed the lead back out to 7-2 in the fourth inning by drilling a two-run triple.
Text and images may have been created, edited, colorized, or digitally restored using AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini. All content is reviewed for accuracy and historical integrity before publication by the Norwood Historical Society
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