1. 33ENTERPRISENEWS.COM JUNE 10, 2012
B-R earns semifinal
win in 12 innings to
reach Div. 1 final
By Scott Roche
ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT
TAUNTON – Sometimes in an
extra-inning game, it’s just a matter of
getting a
bat on
the ball
and putting it in play to get the job
done.
Nobody knows that better than
the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional
High softball team.
Playing their second extra-innings
Div. 1 South Sectional contest in as
many games, the Trojans stood dead-
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M I A A H I G H S C H O O L S O U T H S E C T I O N A L S
Over, out for Celts
James, Heat prevail in
Game 7 to reach finals
By Tim Reynolds
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
MIAMI – LeBron James finally got a
Game 7 victory, on his third try.
Next up, the NBA finals – and his third
try at that elusive first
championship.
James had 31 points
and 12 rebounds, Chris Bosh hit a career-
best three 3-pointers – the last sparking the
run that put it away – and the Miami Heat
won their second straight Eastern Confer-
ence title by beating the Boston Celtics 101-
88 in Game 7 on Saturday night.
Miami opens the title series in Okla-
homa City on Tuesday night.
Dwyane Wade scored and Shane Battier
added 12 for the Heat, who won a Game 7
for the first time since 2004 – Wade’s rookie
season.
Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points, 14
assists and 10 rebounds for Boston, which
got 19 points from Paul Pierce in what might
be the last game of the “Big Four” era for the
Celtics.
Boston took out its starters with 28.3
seconds left. By then, workers already had a
rope around the perimeter of the court,
preparing for the East trophy presentation.
When Heat President Pat Riley was
shown on the giant overhead video screen in
the moments just after the final buzzer, the
crowd screamed. Riley finally acknowl-
edged them with some claps, before the
2012 Eastern Conference champions logo
was shown as players below the scoreboard
high-fived and hugged, all wearing the new
T-shirts and caps that marked the accom-
plishment.
The screams kept coming, first when
Alonzo Mourning took the microphone –
“We still got a lot of work to do,” Mourning
said – and then again when he handed the
trophy to Heat owner Micky Arison.
HEAT 101
CELTICS 88
Vikings
don’t rest
on laurels
DeAndrade stays on
mound roll to earn EB
Div. 3 baseball title shot
By Mark Ducharme
ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT
QUINCY – So much for short rest slow-
ing down East Bridgewater High pitcher
Casey DeAndrade.
DeAndrade looked as though he was
working with more than the two days rest that
he was going on in
the Vikings’ Div. 3
South Sectional
semifinal game against Bellingham on Satur-
day at Adams Field.
The senior righthander was too much for
the second-seeded Blackhawks to deal with
as he struck out 10, walked three, picked off a
runner and allowed four singles – including
two infield hits – in the Vikings’ 7-1 semifi-
nal win over Bellingham.
The third-seeded Vikings (17-4) will play
their third tournament game in as many days
today at Campanelli Stadium at 4 when they
face eighth-seeded Apponequet in the Div. 3
South Sectional final.
“Like I just said to the players, ‘When you
are the man, you are the man,’ , ” said East
Bridgewater coach Pat Cronin. “Casey De-
Andrade continues not to surprise me.
“We talked after Friday’s game with
Dover-Sherborn (a 5-4 EB win). I talked to
the three captains and asked them what do
they think? We go over some ideas on who to
throw and Casey said, “There is no way that I
am not throwing this game.”
“I knew darn well that he was going to
pitch in this game and Tim O’Brien told me
that he was going to throw in Camapnelli Sta-
dium (in the final).”
DeAndrade made sure he was in control
the entire way and he did it with mostly just
one pitch.
“I was going on adrenaline,” said DeAn-
drade. “The whole team behind played great
defense and they were behind me the whole
way. ... My curve ball was really working
well, so I stuck with the fastball.”
“They saw our game with Dover-Sher-
born,” said Cronin. “They tried some trick
plays to throw Casey off, but we stopped
them.”
The sixth inning was the only inning
where the Blackhawks got two baserunners
on and any past second in scoring their lone
run.
Meanwhile, tThe Vikings’ patience at the
plate helped them get their offense going in
the third inning.
“We played well defensively and we hit
the ball well,” said Cronin. “Usually, with my
team, I have let them swing away, because
you cannot teach kids hitting by not letting
them hit and that is old school. I let them
SOUTH THREE-FEAT?
B-R, Abington in softball finals; EB in baseball final
Reid,
Wave
step up
Junior’s clutch hit
lifts Abington in its
Div. 2 softball semi
By Glen Farley
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TAUNTON – Abington
High School softball coach
Ernie Ortega put Alicia Reid in
the seventh spot in the Green
Wave batting order on Satur-
day.
Reid responded by putting
the Green
Wave into to-
day’s MIAA
Div. 2 South Sectional champi-
onship game.
The junior center fielder
capped a 3-for-3 day at the plate
with a two-out RBI double in the
bottom of the sixth inning to lift
Abington over Hopkinton, 2-1,
at Jack Tripp Field.
Reid’s hit earned the top-
seeded Wave (21-2) a return trip
to Taunton High School for a 1
p.m. South final against third-
seeded Fairhaven (20-2).
“She hit eighth all year,” Or-
tega said. “This is her first time
batting seventh. Sam(antha)
Thompson hasn’t played in a
while and I didn’t want to put a
whole lot of pressure on her so
we put her in the eighth slot to
see what could happen.”
What happened was, a hero-
ine was created.
Reid’s long double made a
winner out of senior righthander
Kelly Norton, who limited the
fourth-seeded Hillers (19-4) to
just three hits and one unearned
run while striking out 13, in-
cluding the first four batters she
faced.
“After the first inning, the 1-
2-3 (outs in order), I was ready
to go,” said Norton.
As good as she was, though,
Norton found herself in a stand-
off with Hopkinton freshman
Alissa Karjel into the bottom of
the sixth when junior Alex Pow-
ers singled with one out and, af-
ter a forceout, Reid settled the
issue.
“I had two strikes on me and
I just wanted to make sure I
didn’t strike out,” said Reid. “I
hit the ball and immediately
thought, ‘Oh, no. I popped out.
What did I do?’
“When I got to second base
EAST BRIDGEWATER 7
BELLINGHAM 1ABINGTON 2
HOPKINTON 1
BRIDGEWATER-RAYNHAM 4
NORTH ATTLEBORO 3
Trojans extra special again
boro, 3-3, in the bottom of the 12th
inning on Saturday afternoon in their
Div. 1 South Sectional semifinal at
Taunton High’s Jack Tripp Field.
With two
outs, Trojans
leadoff batter
Madison Shaw
stepped to the
plate with team-
mate Emily
Kurkul on second
base.
Shaw took a 2-1 fastball and hit a
roller that was bobbled by the Red
Rocketeers first baseman, allowing
Kurkul, who had broken on contact,
to round third base and slide home
safely under the tag of North Attle-
boro catcher Megan Wynn, lifting the
Second-seeded Bridgewater-
Raynham (20-3) advances to today’s
Div. 1 final back at Taunton High at 3
p.m. against top-seeded and defend-
ing Div. 1 state champion King Philip
(21-2).
King Philip got 17 strikeouts from
Meghan Rico in the other semifinal to
beat Silver Lake, 13-0, on Saturday.
After needing 11 innings to beat
Mansfield, 6-5 in the quarterfinals,
the Trojans were already familiar
about extra-inning strategy in secton-
al play.
“In that last at-bat, all I knew I had
to do was move Emily (Kurkul) on
the bases,’’ said Shaw, who had three
hits, two runs scored and 12 putouts at
shortstop. “We are tied in the 12th in-
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EXTRA
MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE
I Bridgewater-Raynham’s Madison Shaw, left, celebrates with teammate Emily Kurkul, during their Div. 1 South
Sectional softball semifinal win over North Attleboro on Saturday in Taunton.
REID/PAGE 34 TROJANS/PAGE 34 VIKINGS/PAGE 34
OVER/PAGE 35
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
I Celtics teammates Ray Allen, left, and Paul Pierce look up at
the scoreboard as Boston falls behind in the second half against
the Miami Heat in Game 7 of their series Saturday night.