Leominster and Nashoba Advance to DI Baseball Final

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Friday, June 07, 2013

Matt Metcalf, GoLocalWorcester Sports Contributor

Top-seeded Nashoba will look to capture the Central Division I title on Saturday

Top-seeded Nashoba and seventh-seeded Leominster will meet in the Central Division I baseball finals this Saturday at Tivnan Field in Worcester, Massachusetts at 7pm.

Upset alert

Leominster isn't a flashy team, but they've been grinding out wins against some of the highest ranked teams in the tournament. After convincingly beating second-seeded Shepherd Hill 15-8 in the quarterfinals, the Blue Devils took care of third-seeded St. John's in the semifinals on Wednesday night, besting the Pioneers in a tight 2-0 contest.

Leominster coach Emile Johnson's retirement will have to wait due to the fact that his team continues to win and is on a magical run. Johnson is set to retire after the conclusion of this season, following a legendary 43-year coaching career.

The Blue Devils are led by Neil O'Conner, who led the Midland A Division in hitting this season with a .424 batting average and 14 runs batted in.

Top seed keeps rolling

Nashoba is showing why they received the top seed for the Central Division I tournament, powering through any team that has stepped on the field with them thus far in the playoffs. After defeating Algonquin 7-1 in the quarterfinals, Nashoba easily took care of fourth-seeded Wachusett 14-1 in the semifinals, proving that they'll be a tough team to beat going forward into the championship.

Nashoba is led offensively by Nick Campana, who compiled a .382 average this season with one home run and 17 runs batted in, while Jack Sarnoski is their leader on the mound, sporting a perfect 5-0 record on the year to go along with 40 strikeouts in 40 innings and a 1.07 earned run average.