Podcast: MIAA Tournament championship preview with Matt Feld

Brayden Cali celebrates after scoring a run in the semifinal win over St. John's Shrewsbury. (Kyle Prudhomme/NEBJ)

Champions will be crowned in Massachusetts this weekend as the MIAA Tournament draws to a close with five championship games at Polar Park in Worcester.

On the latest edition of The Base Path Podcast, co-hosts Dan Guttenplan and Matt Feld preview the rematches of the D1 and D2 championships, and break down the exciting matchups in D3, D4 and D5.

In his championship weekend preview, Feld picked Franklin to beat Taunton in Division 1, and Milton to repeat in Division 2 with a victory over King Philip for the second year in a row. On the pod, he states how difficult it was to pick against Taunton.

“They’ve been in the state final three of the last four times there’s been a postseason,” Feld said. “They’re such a tough team. They’re mentally tough. They compete probably better than anyone in Massachusetts. They went down against BC High in the Round of 8, came back, and won a one-run game. In the semifinal against St. John’s Shrewsbury, they were down 3-0 four batters into the game. They hang in, make it 3-2, and ultimately end up running away with the game.”

Milton will rely on MIAA Player of the Year front-runner Owen McHugh to pitch the team to victory, although the Wildcats may not need him to be perfect due to a potent offense.

“They may not hit as well as they did a year ago, but they’re so athletic,” Feld said. “They run the bases so well. They get on base and just create all sorts of havoc. They’ve never been scared to push the envelope. If they get thrown out, they’re going to run again and again and again. They see if the opposing high school team can make plays.”

Listen to the entire MIAA Tournament championship preview podcast.

The New England Baseball Journal podcast is brought to you by the University of Nebraska High School.

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