WESTON, Mass. — In easily the game of the season for the Wildcats, Weston defeated Wayland 2-1 in the bottom of the twelfth inning to beat their rivals at home on Senior Night.

On the mound for Weston was senior Benoit Schiermeier, who pitched the game of his life. On the mound for over seven innings, Scheiermeier was doing his thing. Schiermeier struck out 12 batters in his time on the mound, while allowing zero earned runs. Schiermeier had it all going last night as Wayland hitters couldn’t touch him for the majority of the game. The key to his excellent performance on the mound was getting ahead in counts. All night long, Schiermeier was throwing first pitch strikes, which allowed him to dictate most of the at-bats.

Behind the dish, Gabe Johnson had an incredible night, stopping nearly everything in the dirt and managing to throw out a Wayland runner, closing down any sort of run scoring opportunity for the Warriors. Johnson called a great game all night long and was a huge part of the defensive prowess Weston showed.

Although the Wildcats had a tough night at the plate, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Marco Buchbinder legged out a dropped third strike, giving Weston that all-important baserunner. Scheiermeier then laid down a sacrifice bunt advancing Buchbinder to second. With two outs, Owen Jorajuria got to one and hit a single, driving Buchbinder home, tying the game at 1-1.

The next seven innings would remain scoreless as neither team was giving up anything on the diamond. It was clear to the players and fans watching, the first team to score was going to win this game. And on Senior Night, the Wildcats were going to make sure it was them.

Weston’s defense was immaculate last night making every single play on the field. The entire infield was excellent with Michael Zavala making repeated stops at first base, and Nicholas Cross helping out his teammates at first base, not letting a single ball get past him. Unfortunately, Wayland’s defense was playing just as well which kept this low-scoring affair going.

The pitching change for Weston came in the middle of the eighth inning as Anthony Jorajuria stepped onto the mound for the Wildcats. A. Jorajuria went on to strike out nine consecutive batters across three separate innings just three days after his start against Boston English.

This pitching performance was classic A. Jorajuria, including his throwing lots of fastballs during his at bats, which the Wayland batters simply couldn’t catch. After the game, A. Jorajuria said, “I knew they couldn’t handle the high heat, so I threw hard. In the relief performance of the year for Weston, A. Jorajuria threw over four scoreless innings against Wayland, which kept the Wildcats in the game.

Then came the bottom of the twelfth inning.

While it looked as if Weston was going to score earlier in the game, this time the Wildcats made sure to bring a run home.

The bottom of the twelfth started out with catcher, and senior captain, Gabe Johnson, at the plate. Johnson, in a good at bat, was able to work a walk out of the Wayland pitcher. Up next was Cross, who had a great at-bat. Cross waited for his pitch and then smashed a double into right field, putting Johnson on third and Cross on second.

This was the momentum Weston needed. With zero outs and runners on second and third, pitcher A. Jorajuria came to the plate. However, A. Jorajuria wouldn’t get a chance to swing the bat as Wayland decided to initially walk A. Jorajuria, giving Weston a bases-loaded scenario with no outs.

Hitting cleanup on the day for Weston was Buchbinder. As Buchbinder stepped into the box the crowd went silent. The cold dark night was only illuminated by the lights on the baseball field. Buchbinder stepped into the box ready to drive home the game-winning run for the Wildcats.

Buchbinder got into his stance as the Wayland pitcher wound up, “Ball one!” shouted the home plate umpire; Buchbinder just had to wait for his pitch. The Wayland pitcher reset and threw – ball two. Buchbinder knew the Wayland pitcher was having trouble finding the plate. Buchbinder stepped back into the box, awaiting the pitch. “Ball three!” shouted the umpire once again as the Wayland pitcher missed outside. Buchbinder knew he had the pitcher on the ropes, but he calmed himself, did his pre-pitch ritual, and took his stance. The crowd quieted once again as the Wayland pitcher uncorked the pitch.

Ball four.

Buchbinder tossed his bat high into the air as the winning run for Weston trotted home.

A walk-off walk for Weston in the bottom of the twelfth inning gave Weston their second walk-off win versus Wayland in just two seasons.

In a hard-fought victory, Weston never gave up. No matter the circumstance, Weston kept their heads in the ball game and it showed in the final score.

In the game of the season on Senior Night, Weston brought home a victory against their closest rival.

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