WORCESTER — Armanis Romero watched the game’s final out float harmlessly into the glove of center fielder Alonzo Garcia. The junior turned and sprinted to embrace catcher Matthew Guerrero — a combination of the joy of victory and the gratitude of what his English High team had just accomplished.
The significance of their title run wasn’t lost on the English High players. Fighting to be the first Boston City League baseball team to win a MIAA state championship, the Eagles used it as a rallying cry.
For the first time in school history, English High, the tournament’s third seed, claimed the Division 5 title Sunday afternoon at Polar Park, taking down top-seeded Georgetown, 7-1.
FINAL: English High 7, Georgetown 1
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera) June 16, 2024
For the first time in program history, the Eagles are state champs!
David Castillo pitched 6 great innings and Rusbert Martinez had the big 2-run 2B in the 3rd.
First MIAA title for a City team, and first overall since 1971.@GlobeSchools pic.twitter.com/Rw8N5jR384
“We knew we had to do it for the city of Boston,” English coach Christian Ortiz said. “This is where all our kids are from. This is where we were born and raised. This is for the city of Boston.”
The Eagles are the first Boston City League team to win a title since 1971, when South Boston won a state championship — prior to the creation of the MIAA in 1978.
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Senior David Castillo pitched six-plus innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts to pace the Eagles (23-2). He allowed the Royals (22-2) to score an unearned run in the first inning before English produced seven unanswered runs.
“A little jittery in the first inning, but we knew if we attacked and if we would keep attacking, it would be ours at the end of the game,” Ortiz said.
Romero closed out the game with three straight outs in the seventh.
Garcia started the scoring for the Eagles with an RBI single in the second before Castillo brought in a run with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. In the third, junior Rusbert Martinez clobbered a two-run double to deep right field as part of a four-run rally.
Huge two-out, two-run double from Rusbert Martinez, clubbing it to the wall in right to put English up 4-1 in the third.
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera) June 16, 2024
Eagles have scored four unanswered since falling behind in the first.@GlobeSchools pic.twitter.com/v4KoWWy4aB
“In batting practice before the game, Rusbert was hitting balls 1,000 miles per hour,” Romero said. “He was definitely due for one and he got it today.”
Under Ortiz’s leadership, English High has become a baseball juggernaut. They completed a second straight unbeaten regular season in the conference, capping it with a City League championship win over Latin Academy before the state tournament began. Both losses they suffered in the regular season came against teams in Division 1.
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After falling, 1-0, in extra innings in the Division 4 semifinal last year, the Eagles returned most of their roster. Led by Castillo and Romero, they stormed through the tournament. After surviving a first-round scare from No. 30 Rockport, the Eagles outscored their opponents 27-4 over the final four games of their playoff run.
“When we started the state tournament, we were playing for the city, not just for us,” Castillo said.
