Mustangs Batter Harbormen in Sectional Quarterfinal Rout-June 4, 1991

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.

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