Milton National's 11A All-Stars avenged last summer's heartbreak and kept rolling, winning the Massachusetts Little League Section 2 Championship undefeated to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
The run started with a 1-0 shutout of rival Braintree on Saturday, July 11 to claim the District 8 title. It peaked on Wednesday, July 15 at Piatelli Field, where Milton edged Swansea 7-6 in the Sectional opener, a rematch of the 2025 Sectional final that ended Milton's season a year ago.
Milton then beat Bridgewater to win the Section 2 championship outright.
District title: pitching and a perfect bunt
Against Braintree, Liam Maguire (son of head coach Ryan Maguire) set the tone on the mound, going 3 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Reliever Ben Lally locked the door, throwing 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball with one strikeout.
The game's lone run came in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Magner reached on an error, was sacrificed to second, stole third, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Miles Lawlor, son of assistant coach Matt Lawlor.
"Given how much we practice bunting during batting practice, I really trusted Miles," Ryan Maguire told the Milton Times. "If it's done right, it's almost impossible for the defense to make a play on it on a Little League diamond."
Lawlor also made the defensive play of the game in the first inning, snagging a line drive and flipping to Harrison Phillips at first to turn a double play that snuffed a Braintree rally. Magner contributed at third base in the top of the sixth, fielding a grounder to keep the game scoreless before delivering his walk-off run moments later.
The district championship was Milton National's second straight and third overall at the 11-year-old level. During pool play, the squad rolled through East Braintree (10-0), Hingham (15-5), Scituate (25-14), and Abington (11-1 in the semifinals).
Redemption against Swansea
The same core group, then the Milton National 10A team, lost to Swansea in the Sectional final on July 13, 2025. That defeat fueled the 2026 squad all offseason.
"After losing that Sectionals to Swansea, we had a chip on our shoulder," Matt Lawlor said in August 2025, after the team rebounded to win the Suburban Youth Baseball League title. "We went into the playoffs refocused and probably played our three best games of the season."
A year later, Milton got its shot. At Piatelli Field on Wednesday, July 15, the team outlasted Swansea 7-6 in the Sectional opener, according to the Massachusetts Little League scoreboard. Swansea was eliminated the following day, falling to Bridgewater 7-2.
Milton then defeated Bridgewater to claim the Section 2 title, remaining undefeated through the entire tournament bracket. The Milton National Little League confirmed the championship on its official Facebook page, noting the team advanced to the state tournament.
The squad
Head coach Ryan Maguire, who coaches eight of the 12 players on a club team year-round, is joined on the staff by Matt Lawlor and Andy Knowles. The full roster: Liam Maguire, Benjamin Lamping, Gavin Kodack, Harrison Phillips, John Dow, Kyle Magner, Luke Magner, Mason Miranda, Miles Lawlor, Peter Carlson, Robert Hooker, and Ronan Knowles.
The state tournament was Milton National's next stop after the Section 2 title.
