'We did it for him': Millbury wins D4 state championship for longtime high school baseball coach Ron Silvestri

WORCESTER — As Ron Silvestri hoisted a state championship trophy above his head Saturday evening, the Millbury High baseball coach was surrounded by his players near home plate in a moment of delight and disbelief at Polar Park. 

“He’s finally done it,” Millbury senior Landon Ruth said.  

“We did it,” Millbury freshman Ryan Nikiforow added.  

Behind Nikiforow’s stellar complete-game pitching performance, and a final out caught by junior Jimmer Donnelly at second base, the fifth-seeded Woolies waltzed out of the home of the WooSox with a 3-2 win over No. 2 Lynnfield in the Division 4 state final.  

The victory marked the program’s first state title since 1984 — and the first ever in Silvestri’s 39 years of coaching high school baseball. 

Millbury beats Lynnfield, 3-2, to claim the Div. 4 state championship.

This marks the Woolies’ first state title since 1984, and the first for Millbury coach Ron Silvestri — who has been coaching HS baseball in the Worcester area for nearly 40 years.

Here’s the final out. pic.twitter.com/vk9LmaI9gx— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) June 14, 2025

“Number one, I’m so happy for these kids,” Silvestri, 74, said. “And number two, I don’t have much time left. I don’t have 20 more years to wait. So, this is kind of checking the boxes.” 

Millbury players were happy to provide the proverbial pen. The Woolies won one for the skipper.  

“I’m so happy for him, we really did that for him,” Nikiforow, 15, said. “It’s his first one, he’s been coaching for so long, he really wanted to get one, and we just got it for him. So, I’m just super, super happy for Coach and yeah, we love him.” 

Millbury High freshman Ryan Nikiforow (@ry_niki12) picked up the complete-game win on the hill for the Woolies and also the coveted 🌭 hat for winning MVP of the game. Here is the uber-talented ninth-grader after the Woolies’ win in the D4 state final. pic.twitter.com/q3i2AXs67w— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) June 15, 2025

Before taking over as the head coach of the Millbury High baseball program in 2012, Silvestri spent 26 years coaching baseball at Worcester Voke (now known as Worcester Tech).  

The Oxford resident won 475 games, 23 Colonial Athletic League titles and three Central Mass. Championships, and saw his team lose to Lincoln-Sudbury in the Division 2 state final in 2005 with future major league pitcher Tim Collins leading the charge. 

In 2010, Silvestri was selected into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Two years later, he wasn’t allowed to apply for the baseball job that he held in Worcester since 1986. 

So, 13 years ago, Silvestri took over at Millbury High.  

“We’re really excited to have a Hall of Famer here,” former Millbury High athletic director Patrick Mara told the T&G at the time. “Ron is one of the best baseball coaches in the state.” 

Silvestri surpassed 500 career wins in 2014 and reached 600 in Millbury’s playoff win over Uxbridge in 2023. The current Millbury High baseball bench boss is just one of 10 coaches in Massachusetts to accumulate 600 career wins. 

“No one puts more time in than he does,” said Jack Cather, longtime owner of the Strike Zone batting cages in Worcester, who watched Silvestri’s team win Saturday alongside Rich Gedman. “He’s all for the kids all the time.” 

With his current crop of kids securing five straight postseason wins, including Saturday’s one-run victory over Lynnfield in the Div. 4 state final, Silvestri now has 635 career wins. And one less box to check on his diamond to-do list.  

“I got my 600 wins and now I got a state championship,” Silvestri said. “That was like the last thing on my list.”  

Sights and sounds from Millbury’s state championship victory at Polar Park. pic.twitter.com/bYbwGUmSag— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) June 14, 2025

The Woolies were, understandably and undeniably, excited for Coach.  

“We did it for him,” Millbury senior captain Bryson McCarthy said. “I love him (and he’s) one of the best coaches I’ve ever had in my life.” 

“He’s such a mentor,” Donnelly said. “It means the world to have him as a coach and to do this for him is just the cherry on top, truly.” 

Now, Ron Silvestri and the Millbury High baseball program find themselves atop Division 4. Thanks to a day filled with equal parts disbelief and delight.  

Millbury senior captain Bryson McCarthy shares his thoughts after the Woolies won the Division 4 state championship. pic.twitter.com/PVn0Ruc0c5— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) June 14, 2025

“I don’t know what to say,” Donnelly said. “Only in (my) dreams.” 

Said Nikiforow: “I still don’t believe that we actually did that.” 

“The best feeling in the world,” McCarthy concluded. “I wouldn’t trade this team for anything else. Love you guys.” 

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Millbury baseball coach Ron Silvestri secures first state championship