It had taken more than two centuries for one of the first public high schools in Boston to win a state baseball championship before last Sunday, when the English High Eagles finally got to raise the Division 5 MIAA trophy above their heads.  

Although English High is in Jamaica Plain, many students at the school call Dorchester home. This season several of the coaches and players hailing from the neighborhood were part of the team. Caitlin Murphy, the head of school, is also a Dorchester resident.

“For a group of kids to come from all over the city to this public high school and just get to work with the limited resources we have means a lot,” said Head Coach Christian Ortiz. “We pretty much come from nothing and use what we have to get better every day. It makes [a championship] a lot more special”

Ortiz and his 17 players last weekend played top-seed Georgetown in the title game at Polar Park in Worcester. Georgetown began the scoring with a run in the first inning, but the Eagles responded well, and quickly.

“The kids were a little rattled, but they knew this was going to be a long game,” said Ortiz. “We got out of that and scored two runs. I think at that moment the energy shifted.”

Despite grabbing the early lead, English High’s coaches, including Dorchester residents Cedrick Pena, Wilfredo Baez, and Olyn Brea, reminded their players that it was a battle until the end.

Ortiz added: “The way I coach, and the way I try to teach the kids, is that it’s not over until it’s over. I’ve always taught our kids to be mentally tough and to be focused until the 21st out of the game.” 

Just last season, the Eagles went 24-0 before losing in the state semi-finals. This spring, the players were determined to finish what they couldn’t last season.

This season’s 25-2 record and the 7-1 championship win will go down in history as the first time a Boston City League baseball team has won an MIAA championship and the first time a team from any sport at the school has held a state title since 1971. 

“It was a feeling that I’ve never felt before,” said Ortiz, who has led the team for three seasons. “A sense of release, happiness, pride, knowing that the hard work definitely paid off. All the hours, all the sacrifices that the kids made, the parents, the coaches, to make this possible, it felt like a dream come true,” he added. “This is what the kids wanted and for them to get it done feels good.”