PLYMOUTH — Plymouth South got aggressive and it paid off.
Eight days after being one-hit by Whitman-Hanson, the Panthers collected 12 base knocks Friday to earn a 6-3 road win over crosstown baseball rival Plymouth North in the semifinals of the Patriot League Cup.
That sets up an all-Panthers championship showdown Monday between Plymouth South (11-3) and Whitman-Hanson (10-2), which beat Duxbury 6-2 in Friday’s other semifinal.
“It’s definitely exciting,” said South coach Walt Fust, whose team has won six of its last seven and captured its first Fisher Division title since 2007. “This group has worked really hard all year and they’ve taken on one thing at a time to get where we want to be.”
South’s fresh approach at the plate was evident early on as five of the first eight Panthers at-bats ended in base hits, leading to four runs in the first two innings.
“We were taking too many first-pitch fastballs down the middle, so now we’re being more aggressive,” said winning pitcher Adam Maher, a senior who went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. “It feels good to pitch when you have runs to work with.”
Four-year starter Matt Cassidy (1 for 2, 2 runs, RBI, walk) got things going for South when he led off the game with a first-pitch double, then came around on an RBI groundout by Brycen Tetler. In the second, Kyle Affsa and Maher both singled and scored, and Cassidy walked and scored for an early 4-0 lead.
Maher was solid, allowing three runs — two earned — on five hits and two walks while striking out 10 in seven innings of work. He got better as the game went on, sitting down the final seven batters he faced.
“My fastball was my best pitch today,” he said. “It was going where I wanted it to go and I had [velocity] on it.”
Said Fust: “Adam’s composure is unbelievable on the mound. He was able to keep his composure and pitch his way out of jams. That’s the mark of a real leader. He’s been our go-to guy.”
North clawed back in the game with two runs in the bottom of the second. Starter Matt Murphy, who took the loss, drove in Dylan Zemotel with a single, then scored on a throwing error. Murphy added another RBI single in the fourth to pull North within 4-3.
But Murphy couldn’t clamp down on the mound and he got the hook after allowing a triple to Jack Obert (3 for 4, run, RBI) and an RBI single to Hunter Dean (3 for 4, 2 RBIs) in the top of the fifth. The Panthers added an insurance run in the sixth when Maher tripled and Cassidy sacrificed him home with a flyout to center.
With a reliable trio of pitchers in Maher, Tom Sullivan and Dean, the Panthers offense has been their pivot point this season. After scoring 43 runs in their first three games, they scored just six across their three losses to North Quincy (2-1), Scituate (6-5) and Whitman-Hanson (2-0).
“In the beginning we had good games offensively, then we had three or four rough games,” Maher said. “Then we started hammering BP in practice.”
They hope those bats stay hot Monday with the Patriot Cup on the line.