Norwood Completes Unlikely Run With Title-June 10, 1991

Pete Wall has developed some outstanding baseball prospects in his 23 years at Norwood High School, but he never had a sectional title until Saturday. Norwood finally captured the big one, and the Mustangs did it with only one returning starter (Steve Grenham) from last season. Trailing, 3-2, in the top of the eighth inning, sophomore Joe Montesano belted a three-run double, sparking Norwood to a 5-3 victory over Taunton for the Div. 1 South Sectional crown. Norwood will face North Sectional champ Andover for the Div. 1 EMass. championship tomorrow.

“We used to kick the door,” said Wall. “Today, we kicked it in.” Montesano, a left-handed hitter, almost didn’t make it into the lineup because Taunton was starting a lefty on the mound, Tim Donovan. “He (Montesano) doesn’t hit lefties well,” Wall said. “I was going to play (Tom) Khoury, but I wanted him in the lineup somewhere so I batted him ninth at first base.”

“This team has been unbelievable. We had only one guy back (Grenham), we were 4-4 at one point, then we won nine in a row … and here we are.” “It was the biggest hit of my career,” said Montesano, who grounded out, singled, and struck out against Donovan before getting the big hit against right-handed reliever Jim Watson. “I’m glad Coach Wall had confidence in me.” Nothing came easy for Norwood Saturday. The Mustangs fell in an early 3-0 hole when Taunton rang up three runs in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Tom Bunn and Jim Watson and an RBI double by Jeff Pagliuca.

Scott Ivens’ RBI single in the top of the third put Norwood on the board, 3-1, but the Mustangs almost saw that run go for naught. With runners at first and second, Taunton’s Mark Furtado scorched a grounder to the hole that was snared remarkably by Grenham, who flipped the ball to second for the force out to get Norwood out of the inning. Norwood pitcher Mike McMahon then settled down nicely, allowing only five hits and no runs over the final six innings. “I felt stronger as the game went along,” said McMahon, who increased his record to 9-0.

“I just realized I had to throw strikes, so I stayed with the fastball and let my teammates play defense behind me.” Norwood closed to within a run, 3-2, in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Ivens hit a pop single to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch. John Palumbo drove him in with a high-hop single past first base as Norwood gathered momentum. When McMahon opened the top of the eighth with a single, Taunton coach Ken Perry relieved Donovan with Watson, who had pitched the day before against BC High. “He’s the ace,” Perry said. “He knows how many he can go, so I decided to go with him and see what happens.” Steve Cohen sacrificed McMahon to second, Craig Douglas singled to left, and Brian Needham walked to load the bases before Montesano delivered the clutch hit.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger