Given the chance to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday and give his reeling team a lift, Meucci defied logic in every way imaginable.

His second triple of the day, this one to the gap in right center field, put No. 2 Winthrop back in business. Meucci beat throw home by a step on Dakota Carter’s ensuing groundout, and sophomore reliever Jacob Hickey pitched a scoreless seventh to seal a 9-8 Class C West semifinal victory over No. 6 Monmouth.

“I knew (Monmouth’s Hunter Richardson) was going to pitch me outside. He pitched me outside twice, so I knew he was going to go back,” Meucci, one of seven Winthrop seniors, said. “I’ve been learning all year to take it to right field on the outside pitch.”

For surviving the upset bid from its neighbor six miles away, MVC champion Winthrop (16-2) earns the chance to face another longtime rival, No. 8 St. Dom’s, in Wednesday’s regional final. Game time is 3 p.m. at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish.

Meucci was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. His RBI single, also to the opposite field, keyed a four-run rally to give Winthrop a 4-2 lead in the third.

That grew to 8-2 in the fifth with the help of two errors and consecutive singles by the bottom third of Winthrop’s potent lineup — Matt Ingram, Hickey and Adam Hachey.

Monmouth (11-8), playing with no seniors, sent 10 to the plate and chased Winthrop ace Ben Allen with its tying response in the sixth. Avery Pomerleau, Gage Cote and Nick Dovinsky all had RBIs to set up the equalizer, a two-run triple from Chandler Harris.

“It’s good when you have a young team like that and they don’t give up,” Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “Winthrop is a great team, a senior-laden team. We knew they were going to hit. It’s just how can we get through the top of the order? And then our kids came back and said we’re not done yet.”

Allen, who took a physical beating at the plate and on the base paths, also crested the 100-pitch mark in the sixth.

He retired Monmouth’s first seven batters of the game and got out of the fifth with ease after a leadoff single by Pomerleau (3-for-3, two runs).

“I really thought we were cruising. I didn’t anticipate Ben needing to come out,” Winthrop coach Marc Fortin said. “We’ve been using Jacob reluctantly. We haven’t used him against a high-powered team like this all season. But Jacob’s a gamer. You can just see it. He’s got the swagger. He’s got the flair. He’s calm. He’s cool.”

Richardson worked Hickey to a full count before hoisting a fly ball to Ingram in right, leaving the go-ahead run at third.

“I was a little nervous,” Hickey said. “I tried to calm myself down, throw a couple of early strikes to get ahead in the count and work from there. I knew I had a great defense behind me.”

Jariah Caissie lofted Hickey’s first pitch of the seventh to center for a quick out.

Hickey struck out Travis Hartford. Tom Small slapped a two-strike pitch to left to keep the Mustangs alive. Antonio Meucci then flagged down Nick Sanborn’s slow roller to first and won the foot race to end it.

“You dream of that,” Hickey, whose only appearances this season came as the Ramblers’ No. 3 starter, said. “Sixth, seventh inning, coming in. I wasn’t trying to blow it past anybody. I was trying to throw strikes, get some groundouts and flyouts.”

Pomerleau’s single and a walk by Cote set the table for Monmouth to take the lead in the third. Dovinsky beat out a bunt single, and a throwing error on the play allowed both runners to score.

Hachey, Allen, Matt Sekerak, Mario Meucci and Dakota Carter cracked consecutive singles to fuel Winthrop’s answer. Ben Caprara also had an RBI.

Richardson struck out Sekerak with the bases loaded to escape further damage in the fifth. All four runs were unearned.

“It was a good year. I had expectations. I thought we had a playoff team because we had some good pitching,” Palleschi said. “When it gets up around seven, eight runs in a game, we know that’s not the game that we favor. This is the most runs we’ve given up all year.”

Monmouth beat Carrabec and Sacopee Valley to reach the semis for the second consecutive season.

Ingram, Hickey and Hachey were a combined 5-for-9 with four RBIs for Winthrop, whose entire starting lineup is batting .300 or above.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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