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TAUNTON - It was not a good day to be a Shamrock.

On the mound, three pitchers were tattooed for 17 hits - seven of those for extra bases, two leaving the ball park.

Offensively, the batting order was able to muster merely four hits through five innings and only three times advanced a runner as far as third base.

It all added up to a painful, 12-0 setback for the Shamrocks of Bishop Feehan High School Thursday at Taunton High in the semifinal round of the MIAA Division 2-South Baseball Tournament.

The defending MIAA Division 2 state champion Eagles of Plymouth North notched their 10th consecutive playoff victory, claiming the No. 8 seeded Shamrocks as their latest victim. And how good was Plymouth North? Consider this:

**The top five batters in the order went a combined 13-for-17 at the plate (seven of those hits being for extra bases) and 11 RBI.

**In taking a 10-0 lead through three innings, Plymouth North scored seven of those runs with two outs.

**Eagle junior lefthanded pitcher Jeff Agnew notched his second postseason victory, his fifth overall of the season, handcuffing the Shamrocks with a seven-hitter overall. He hit a pair of Shamrocks and walked a pair, Bishop Feehan having a runner on base in every inning.

However, Eagle sophomore catcher Jeff Walsh picked off a Shamrock runner at second base in the first inning; Eagle second baseman Dan Fratus initiated a double play for the first two outs of the third inning; and after the Shamrocks' Tommy Romero uncorked a double to lead off the fourth inning, he was ruled out (not touching first base) on an appeal and throw to the bag by Agnew.

"We executed; we made some big plays," beamed Plymouth North coach Dwayne Follette, whose 20th-seeded Eagles are scheduled to meet 18th-seeded Foxboro tonight (7 p.m., weather permitting) in Braintree for the Division 2-South championship.

"They (Plymouth North) were a good team," chimed in Bishop Feehan coach Mark Cooke. "They're well-coached, well-schooled. Everything was lined up for them."

It did not take very long for Plymouth North to establish its superiority. In the very first inning, Tom MacInnes (four hits, three RBI) and Joe Flynn (RBI) blasted back-to-back doubles off Bishop Feehan starting pitcher Tom Michienzi and Walsh (three hits, four RBI) followed with a towering two-run homer over the left-field fence.

In the second inning, the Eagles scored all five of their runs with two outs and in the third inning added another pair of runs, also with two outs.

In the second frame, Plymouth North used four hits to plate the runs, including an RBI-double down third base line off the bat of Walsh, followed by a two-run double off the bat of the No. 5 hitter, Mike Higgins. In the third inning, Plymouth North used four hits to score twice, leadoff batter Jameson Wood (two hits) having an RBI-double down the left field line and MacInnes following with an RBI-single into centerfield.

Michienzi (four hits allowed) didn't last beyond the second inning and the relievers Dakota Rabbit (eight hits) and Romero (four hits) couldn't stymie the Plymouth North bats either. Fortunately, Shamrock second baseman Brendan Smith (in the fifth inning) and Shamrock shortstop Matt Boulter (in the sixth inning) initiated double plays, while Shamrock left fielder Nick Cataldo gunned down an Eagle at third base in the third inning.

In all, the Eagles amassed 59 bases and all but one batter in the starting order reached base safely at least once.

"They got hits when they needed them, timely hits, too," said Cooke.

The Shamrocks, meanwhile, couldn't get the timely hit- at least Agnew would not surrender one.

"We needed a second pitcher to step up and he's done it," praised Follette of the southpaw, who claimed a 5-1 victory over King Philip in his other postseason win. "They have six left-handers (hitters) in the lineup, he challenged people."

The Shamrocks threatened in the first inning when Michienzi singled with one out. But he was picked off, "that was phenomenal," said Follette. Even though Agnew then walked Boulter and Andrew McCarty, two outs had been taken and he got a ground ball out to end the frame.

In the second inning, Romero reached base on an infield error in leading off for the Shamrocks, then Cataldo reached base on an infield single. Agnew never let the ball get out of the infield, fielding a ground ball and getting a strikeout for the first two outs. Agnew then intentionally walked Shamrock senior leadoff batter Ryan Lee and he got out of that bases-loaded jam by inducing an infield pop-up.

In the third inning, Boulter led off for the Shamrocks by drawing a walk. But that potential threat was erased by a double play. In the fourth inning, the Shamrocks thought they had another leadoff batter on base when Romero belted a two-bagger into left field. But that went by the boards.

In the fifth inning, Lee singled into center field with one out and Brendan Smith drew a walk. Two flyballs later, Agnew again had escaped a dent in his armor. Agnew yielded a two-out single to Cataldo in the sixth inning and a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Jim Marcotte in the seventh inning.

"It hurts when you fall behind early," added Cooke of the early 10-run deficit. "It makes you press a little more. It's all about inches," especially the manner in which Plymouth North put its bats on the ball.

Plymouth North 352 110 0-12 17 1

Bishop Feehan 000 000 0-0 7 3

Agnew and Walsh; Michienzi, Rabbit (2), Romero (4) and Karalis; W-Agnew (5-3). L-Michienzi (2-2).