Saugus’ League Title May Be an Ode to Joy

For the Kansas City Royals’ Buddy Biancalana, a 1-for-4 day constitutes a hot streak. For Saugus High third baseman Chris Joy, it is a prolonged slump.

On Tuesday, Joy collected only one hit in the 14-4 victory over Antelope Valley that clinched the Golden League championship for Saugus with a 12-2 record (16-6 overall). Antelope Valley is 5-9 and 8-11.

His fourth-inning, run-scoring single extended his hitting streak to 19 games and kept his league average above .600. In 14 league games, he is 26 for 43, a .605 average.

“He could have gone 0 for 8 today and it still wouldn’t have made up for the damage he did to us the first two times we played against him,” Antelope Valley Coach Jack Donnelly said. “In my mind, he’s the best player in this league. He’s done everything. Anybody who has hit .600 has got to be made of the right stuff.”

Joy, a senior who entered the game with on an 11-for-16 streak, still remembers his season-opening slump when he was 0 for 13.

“For a while, I didn’t think I was ever going to get out of that hole,” he said. “But, if you have confidence in yourself as a hitter, you just try to put up with it and wait for it to end.”

As his high school career nears its end, Joy is leaving behind some numbers that may be tough for future Saugus players to top.

With one regular-season game and the playoffs ahead, he needs only five hits to set the school record of 79 career hits. His three-year varsity average is .383.

Behind his hitting, the Centurions have won six straight and have clinched their second league title in three seasons.

After Tuesday’s game, in which Saugus took advantage of eight Antelope Valley errors, Joy and his teammates carried Coach Doug Worley to the mound in celebration and proceeded to pour four large bottles of soda on his head.

“I had bad vibrations about the whole thing,” Worley said of the post-game festivities. “But it does feel good.

“A lot of people were talking about their own teams earlier in the season and I think many of them overlooked us. But we’ve got a lot of good players on this team and we just went about our business quietly.”