HAVERHILL, Mass. — By the time it found a way to nick up Arlington High starter Mike Griffin, Haverhill's afternoon and season were pretty much over.
Ronnie Rosario singled sharply to left with one out in the sixth to end Griffin's no-hit bid. But by that time, No. 17 Arlington had ridden three Hillie errors to a 9-0 lead, ultimately stopping No. 16 Haverhill in the Division 1 North tourney preliminary round, 9-2.
"We haven't played a game in six days, and we had a week of poor practice," said Hillie coach Chip Dunn. "Today, we played like we practiced. It's too bad because this group of kids really overachieved. They worked hard every day, right through the regular season."
All three Hillie miscues came in the third, where starter Trevor Behrendt absorbed six unearned runs to finish his at 6-4.
"Poor Behrendt, that's two straight games where we struggled behind him. Six unearned runs in an inning takes a lot out of you," said Dunn of his right-hander. "In the last two games (including Monday's 12-11 loss to Central) he threw outs for us and got nothing to show for it."
The Hillies, who endured injuries that limited stopper Taylor Robinson to 132âÑ3 innings all season and kept Brendon Bretton off the mound entirely, finished at 11-8.
"At the beginning of the year, I said I'd have been happy if we played .500 baseball and we did better than that."
Haverhill finished with six hits off Griffin, with Bretton swatting a pair.
Robinson had the lone RBI on a base hit in the sixth.
Arlington 9, Haverhill 2
Division 1 North preliminary round
Arlington (9): Sleeder cf 5-1-2, Connor ss 5-1-1, Griffin p 4-0-0, O'Loughlin rf 5-0-1, Fitzgerald 3b 5-1-1, O'Hare c 5-0-1, Davos 2b 4-3-2, Culty lf 3-2-0, Calcagno dh 5-1-1, Nuzzell 1b 0-0-0, Totals 41-9-9
Haverhill (2): Chasse cf 3-1-0, Bresnahan ph 1-0-0, Rosario c 3-0-1, Cronin c 0-0-0, Robinson 1b/p 3-0-1, Munoz 2b 0-0-0, Xia dh 3-0-0, Behrendt p 2-0-0, Ieronimo lf 2-0-0, Pickles ss 2-0-0, Mendez ss 1-0-0, Cox rf 3-1-1, Baez ph 1-0-0, Kimball 3b 3-0-1, Ruth ph 1-0-0, Bretton rf/1b/cf 4-0-2, Dubois 2b 0-0-0, Totals 30-2-6
RBI: H — Robinson; A — Sleeder 4, Connor, O'Loughlin
WP: Griffin; LP: Behrendt
Arlington (13-8): 061 011 000 — 9
Haverhill (11-8): 000 000 000 — 2
Kelli Johnson 1-on-1 with John Thompson III -2/13
Alexander Semin finds back of net versus Rangers-2/12
The Sixers are not taking anyone lightly
Spring training is right around the corner
Moving day: Phils' gear en route to Clearwater
Will the Flyers make a move at the trade deadline?
Stoglin's frustrations boil over following Duke loss-2/12
Timonen "disappointed" in teammates' effort
Morganti: 'Rangers' power play demolished the Flyers'
Timonen: 'I think we got half the guys going and half the guys not'
More shootout woes in store for the Flyers when they face the Red Wings?
The Rangers have the Flyers' number
St. Joseph's vs. Massachusetts Highlights - 2/11
Penn vs. Dartmouth Highlights - 2/11
Drexel vs. Hofstra Highlights - 2/11
La Salle vs. St. Louis Highlights - 2/11
John Wall talks about the loss to the Heat-2/10
Collins takes the blame for the Sixers' final possession
Sixers vs. Clippers highlights
Sixers defensive effort not enough vs. Clippers
Julien: 'did it the hard way'
McAdam's Spring Training primer
Doc: Team's effort is 'un-Celtic'
Pierce stresses mental toughness
Globe 10.0 Who was the best free agent in Boston?
Maria Menounos dons a Giants-colored bikini after losing Super Bowl bet-2/7
Thomas' moratorium: 'I'm out, peace'
Gasol: 'Not pleasant' being part of trade rumor
Blakely: Gasol-for-Rondo trade unlikely
Brady-ing is Latest Internet Meme
Globe 10.0: Is Paul Pierce the Celtics greatest scorer?
Ranking Pierce among Celtics greats
Garnett's tale of first meeting Paul Pierce
Pierce's loyalty touted after big night
Hurt Locker: Patriots react to Super Bowl loss
Brown: 'Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady'
Local fans crushed by Patriots loss in Super Bowl XLVI
Marcus Johansson Caps lone goal in loss to Bruins-2/5
Matt Hendricks throws down with the Bruins' Adam McQuaid--2/5
Vinatieri, Law, Brown recount Super Bowl XXXVI
