Brigham Sets Single-Season Doubles Record in Baseball’s 11-1 Onslaught of Anna Maria

Brigham Sets Single-Season Doubles Record in Baseball’s 11-1 Onslaught of Anna Maria

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Tim Brigham secured his spot atop the Rams' single-season doubles list as Suffolk baseball ran over Anna Maria, 11-1, in the nightcap of a GNAC doubleheader Sunday afternoon at East Boston Memorial Park.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 11 | Anna Maria 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (17-9-1, 10-0 GNAC) | Anna Maria (8-20, 1-9 GNAC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
After not producing a hit in the series opener, the AMCATs bats got going early in game two with two of their seven coming in the first frame to produce their lone run of the day.  

The Rams quickly made up the ground with a five-run second stanza. After Tim Brigham brought in Will Hopkins, who singled and swiped second, with his record-setting double to left center, Rich Giandrea traded places with the left fielder with a double of his own to put Suffolk in front. Connor Troio and Trevor Lee sandwiched one-run singles around a sac fly from Rich Gilbride, which made it a 5-1 margin.  

Suffolk coasted from there as the blue-and-gold who racked up three runs in the third and fifth inning, respectively, to build a double-digit distance, 11-1, after five frames.  

In the third, a pair of doubles brought in three runs. Giandrea knocked his second one-run double of the day, while Troio followed suit with a double of his own. The designated hitter's ground-rule knock scored Giandrea and Ben Isaak, who singled.  

Once again doubles played a key role in the scoring in the fifth. For the second time in as many innings, Troio produced a two-run double when he brought in pinch runner Zack Aresty and Shane Lake. Aresty took Giandrea's place on the bags after the right fielder led off the inning with a single. Lake, meanwhile reached on a double. Two batters later, Troio scored on pinch hitter's Joe Rufoto center.  

Anna Maria looked to trim the deficit in the top of the sixth as it coupled a pair of two-out base hits together, but Kevin Sinatra kept the runners where they were as he secured the final out of the frame on a looking strikeout to keep the 10-run advantage intact for the hosts.  

The AMCATs kept the Rams scoreless in the sixth and Sinatra retired the side in the seventh to secure the 11-1, game two victory for Suffolk.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

  • Sinatra went the distance on the mound. The lefty improved to 4-1 on the year behind a one-run, seven-hit, three-strikeout, complete-game effort. 
  • AMCATs starter Nick Genatossio dipped to 0-3 on the hill after allowing five runs on four hits and one walk in 1.2 innings of action. 
  • Marc LeBlanc (1.0 IP, 3R, 4H, 1BB, 1K), Danny Grammel (2.0 IP, 3R, 5H, 2K) and Fili Veras (1.1 IP, 1H) all came in for relief for Anna Maria.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

  • Giandrea and Troio were each perfect at the plate with 3-for-3 efforts, including two doubles apiece.
  • Troio brought in five runs and scored two on his own, while Giandrea recorded two RBI and two runs scored. 
  • Brigham notched two hits, including one double, with two runs and one RBI. 
  • Lake rounded out the four Rams with at least one double as the catcher's only hit of the day was good for two bags. He added two runs to his stat line. 
  • Isaak and Hopkins both had one hit and one run. 
  • Lee registered one hit and one RBI. 
  • Cormier collected one of Suffolk's 14 hits. 

NOTEWORTHY

  • Suffolk swept Anna Maria for the first time since 2017. 
  • The Rams defeated the AMCATs for the third straight outing to move to 14-2 all-time versus Anna Maria. 
  • Suffolk moved to 10-0 against conference competition, the best league start since beginning the 2013 conference calendar with five series sweeps (10-0). 
  • Brigham knocked his 19th double of the season to displace a five-year mark held by Jake Cintolo to become the newest Rams' single-season leader in doubles. 
  • Troio produced career highs in hits (3), doubles (2), RBI (5) and total bases (5) and matched a personal-best two runs scored. 
  • Giandrea recorded a career-bests in hits (3), doubles (2), total bases (5) and matched a career-high two RBI. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk steps away from GNAC action Wednesday, April 10 when it travels to Wheaton. The midweek, non-league action is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.