HUDSON – With the game almost secured, Hudson pitcher Chase Donahue looked anxiously into the dugout.
At 103 pitches, Donahue knew he was approaching the American Legion pitch limit of 105, and wasn’t quite certain if his cadre of Hudson Post 100 coaches would allow him to stay in the game. With the bases empty and one out remaining in the seventh – and potentially last – inning, Donahue said he had one thought running through his mind as he watched his coaches chat along the edge of Guidotti Field: “Please, stay on the sideline.”
“I was not going to come off this mound. You would’ve had to physically come and drag me off the mound,” said Donahue.
The coaches allowed Donahue to remain on the mound, and several pitches later, he got the final batter to fly out, finishing his complete-game shutout, and officially securing third-seeded Hudson Post 100’s 8-0 win over fourth-seeded North County Post 129. The win capped a best-of-three-game championship series between the two teams, and marked the first Zone 4 championship in program history for Post 100.
Another milestone for Hudson: The team will be playing in the American Legion state tournament for the first time as non-hosts. Post 100’s first game, which will be played at the College of the Holy Cross’ Fitton Field in Worcester, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday against former Zone 5 foe Lowell Post 87.
“It really is crazy. It’s hard to believe,” Hudson Head Coach Ryan Bowen said. “Our program was brought back to life in 2002 … I played for Coach Blair Brissette for three years, he was the coach for eight years. So, to be able to take over the reins from him and get us to this level – it’s huge, it really is.”
Donahue anchored the team, pitching seven innings of five-hit baseball. The 2023 Bromfield School graduate walked only one, struck out 11, and even contributed at the plate, batting clean-up and going 1-3 with 2 RBI. Handed the ball in a winner-take-all game, Donahue felt some pressure, he admitted, but when speaking to reporters after the game, he echoed the words of Billie Jean King: “Pressure is a privilege.”
“There’s going to be pressure in every game. If there’s no pressure, then you don’t love the game. It meant the world to me to have the ball in this game, to have a coach like Coach Bowen – who I had never met before this summer – have that much faith in me in a game like this, where it could go down in the history books … I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Donahue told the Community Advocate.
“He’s our guy,” said Bowen. “When we have a big game, it’s Chase’s ball. It’s the reason why he was out there pitching today, it’s the reason he pitched in our first playoff game on Thursday, and he’ll be pitching as soon as he’s eligible in the state tournament.”
Hudson’s bats gave Donahue early run support. Post 100 lead-off hitter Marshall Kehlhem was everywhere on the basepaths in the first inning: Kehlhem reached on a single, stole second two pitches later, advanced to third on a ground out, and scored on a double-steal to plate Hudson’s first runs. Dan DeMirjian’s single sent home another run, putting Hudson ahead 2-0 after the opening frame.
“Early in the game … we’re trying to play ‘small ball’ and get an edge any way we can. [Kehlhem] has been unbelievable on the bases for us all year. I think today he might’ve got up to over 40 steals on the year. He’s been huge for us all year. We knew if he got on, he was going to be a threat,” said Bowen.
On July 23 – less than 24 hours before the start of Wednesday night’s action – North County pitcher Caleb Allen shut down Hudson’s bats, leading his team to a 3-0 victory and forcing Wednesday’s winner-take-all matchup. But Post 100 seemed to move on from the deflating loss quickly, and the team’s offense didn’t stop after its first-inning outburst. Hudson batters throughout the order produced: Bobby Long Jr., Chase Barrett, and Anthony Moura had RBI hits. Post 100 went ahead 5-0 after the second inning, eventually pulling ahead 8-0 toward the end of the game.
“We have so much trust in our guys. We put together good at-bats and good innings all year. We faced a really good pitcher yesterday – and credit to him, he shut us down – and we had a good pitcher today. We did our job today,” Bowen said.
“That’s baseball, you have to take it day by day.”
The Community Advocate will have coverage of Hudson’s state tournament run.
