MIAA baseball: Hopkins runs out of steam, suffers 6-1 loss to Georgetown in Div. 5 state semis

MILFORD — The No. 3 Hopkins Academy baseball team’s postseason run came to a close after a 6-1 loss to No. 2 Georgetown in the MIAA Division 5 state semifinal round on Tuesday night at Fino Field.

After getting out to an early lead, the Golden Hawks couldn’t hold on as the bats went cold and the team struggled to get the momentum of the game back on their side. On the other side, the Royals made the most of their opportunities, putting together a nearly flawless final six innings of play.

“You can point to one aspect of the game or the other,” Hopkins head coach Dan Vreeland said. “We didn’t get the clutch hit when we needed it, we had a couple of plays that we probably could have made in the field a little bit better, we could have walked one or two less guys, one or two less wild pitches. You know, little bits here and there.”

Tucker Russell got the start for the Golden Hawks in the loss, battling against a tough Georgetown lineup that had firepower throughout all nine spots. The Royals’ bats did well to find gaps with well-placed groundballs and line drives all night long, creating consistent traffic on the basepaths.

Despite the loss, Russell did well to keep the damage to a minimum on multiple occasions, with the junior also picking up six strikeouts in his seven innings of work.

“I mean, [Russell’s] just a competitor,” Vreeland said. “The best part about him is that he doesn’t give up, no matter what. He’s in there in that last inning, and you could tell, it’s been a long season. The kid’s logged almost 70 innings at this point in time. He’s struck out nearly 80-90 guys this year.

“He’s a bulldog,” Vreeland continued. “He wants the ball every single time. That’s what he did. He kept going out there even when the situations weren’t perfect and just battled. So, you know, you can’t ask for anything more than that from a kid.”

Hopkins kicked off the scoring on Tuesday in the top of the first inning, beginning with a leadoff walk from Aiden Keeling-Lococo. One batter later, Chace Earle stepped into the box with his teammate in scoring position after taking second on a wild pitch.

Earle found a pitch to drive and smashed it to deep left field, clearing the outstretched glove of Georgetown’s left fielder and making its way to the wall. The senior strolled into second with a standup double, cashing in the run and giving his squad a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Golden Hawks, their bats went silent immediately after the hot start to the night. The team mustered up just two more hits in the contest, with Wyatt Cook tallying a single in the third inning, and Carter Styspeck converting one of his own in the fourth.

Despite an unprecedentedly slow day at the plate for Hopkins, the team kept fighting through the final inning. Vibes stayed high in the dugout throughout, with the group doing all they could before eventually running out of outs.

“I mean, they’re a gritty team,” Vreeland said. “These guys want it and believe in themselves, and that’s why we got as far as we did this year… When you’ve had as long and hard of a season as we’ve had and battled in every single game, it’s easy to keep having faith in yourself, even when it looks pretty dark.”

Tuesday’s loss puts an end to another deep run in the postseason for the Golden Hawks, making the semifinals of the state tournament for the fourth time in five years. Even though they weren’t able to get over the final hump, winning a Western Mass. championship and finishing the year 22-3 overall were among their accomplishments.

Hopkins will look to bounce back next season, taking the experience from playing in a bunch of big games throughout 2026 with them into the future.

“You don’t want to look to the future too fast, but you hope that the classes under these seniors learn from them,” Vreeland said. “Because [we had] a great class of seniors. We have five guys we’re losing.
Every single one of them was a contributor. And every single one of them was selfless. Hopefully, the kids behind them see that and learn from them, and we can hopefully build on the success we’ve continued to have.”