Monthly Archives: May 2014

May 13, 2014 · 9:49 pm

Lynnfield edges Amesbury 3-1 in Cape Ann League baseball

Winning pitcher Greg Basilesco (#18) after the game

Shortstop Jordan Roper fields a grounder

(Amesbury MA) Junior Greg Basilesco tossed a complete game, four-hitter as Lynnfield defeated Amesbury, 3-1, on an overcast Tuesday afternoon of Cape Ann League baseball.

Greg kept the Indians off the bases and faced only nineteen batters during the last six innings. Amesbury left only two runners on base.

Lynnfield (11-5) had seven hits against AHS starter Nick Hawrylciw and stranded runners (12 runners total) in every inning.

Both teams scored in the first inning. The Pioneers added single runs in the third and sixth innings.

The Indians (5-11) hurt themselves with wild pitches and over-aggressive base-running.

In the Lynnfield first, junior Nick Pascucci walked and took second on a Nick Hawrylciw wild pitch. Nick Pascucci headed for third on a grounder to shortstop Jared Dupere. Normally that’s a bad move but Jared opted to throw to first and Nick reached third with two outs. The second wild pitch of the inning by Nick Hawrylciw allowed Nick Pascucci to score Lynnfield’s first run.

Amesbury came right back in their half of the first to tie the score. Ben Cullen doubled to left center and Mac Short delivered him with a sharp grounder up the middle.

Jordan Roper

The Pioneers took the lead for good in the third. Jordan Roper doubled down the left field line and raced home on junior Jake Rourke’s liner up the middle. Jake’s hit was tipped by pitcher Nick Hawrylciw but not enough to keep in from reaching the outfield.

Ben Cullen ran into an out on the bases in the Amesbury third. Ben singled, and stole second with one out. He was on his way toward third but pitcher Greg Basilesco sniffed out what Ben was up to and ran right at him between 2B and 3B. Ben was eventually tagged out by shortstop Jordan Roper.

The Pioneers came close to more runs in the 4th and 5th innings. Ryan Battaglia was tagged out at the plate in the 4th inning. In the fifth, Nick Hawrylciw escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation with a force-out at home and a strikeout.

Jared Dupere doubled to lead off the Amesbury fifth but Greg Basilesco retired the next three Indians.

The Pioneers added an insurance run in the sixth inning. A hit batsman (Ryan Battaglia) and a walk (Jack Fraulini) set up a pitching change for Amesbury with Levi Burrill taking over. Levi advanced the two runners with a wild pitch and intentionally walked Jordan Roper to load the bases with two outs. Next batter Jake Rourke was hit by a pitch driving across Ryan Battaglia with the third Lynnfield run.

Ben Cullen caught in a rundown

Now down 3-1, Amesbury had Ben Cullen back on base with a walk. The AHS senior stole second and, because catcher Danny O’Leary’s throw went into center field, was able to reach third with one out. On Mac Short’s infield out Ben started for home and was caught (and out) for the second time on the bases.

Scary moment in this game was when LHS shortstop Jordan Roper chased a high foul popup along the line in left in the sixth inning. Jordan went into a slide knowing a fence was coming up but ended up sliding into one of the poles holding up the scoreboard. Both coaches were out there in a hurry as well as the Amesbury High School medical staff. To the relief of everyone, Jordan was up and back playing in a few minutes.

Jake Rourke drove in two of Lynnfield’s runs. Jordan Roper paced the Pioneers with two hits.

Jordan Roper goes into a slide chasing a foul ball

Jordan, who made the Cape Ann League All-League team in 2013, has signed of letter of intent with Division 2 Assumption for next year.

Lynnfield tried a suicide squeeze but Tony Costa fouled off the bunt attempt.

Amesbury defeated Lynnfield, 5-4, in nine innings on April 10th at Lynnfield.

Weather? After yesterday’s 80’s, today’s 50’s were a rude shock. The threat of rain was persistent.

Lynnfield box

Amesbury box

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Jack Aponas ready to tag Andrew McCarthy

Amesbury dugout

First baseman Pat Scanlon gives pitcher Levi Burrill a big target

Andrew Carbone reaches third

Tony Costa

Jake Rourke steals second

Ryan Battaglia caught between third and home by AHS second baseman Jack Aponas

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Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Lynnfield

Tagged as Ben Cullen, Greg Basilesco, Jake Rourke, Jordan Roper

May 12, 2014 · 9:07 pm

Jenny Nelson k’s eleven leading Pentucket past Triton 5-0 in Cape Ann League softball

Pentucket sophomore Jenny Nelson dominated Triton

Pentucket shortstop Kassidy Kennefick chases down a foul popup

(Byfield MA) Way too much Jenny Nelson for the Triton Vikings on this sunny Monday afternoon.

The Pentucket sophomore struck out eleven and scattered two hits (both by Mara Spears) as the Sachems defeated Triton, 5-0, in Cape Ann League softball.

The last three games for Triton (5-11) have been a big surprise to anyone connected to their program. The Vikings had put five straight wins together but since then have not only lost three straight but haven’t scored a run in twenty-three straight innings.

Pentucket (7-7) has now won two straight. They need to get to ten wins in the remaining six games to qualify for the post-season tournament. You have to like their chances after the way they played today.

Mary Kate Corrado fields a grounder

The Sachems collected an unearned run in the first inning. Sophomore Maddie Binding and junior Kassidy Kennefick started the inning with singles. Tyler Feeney’s sacrifice fly moved Maddie to third. Mary Kate Corrado’s two-out grounder was booted by shortstop Rylie Culverwell scoring Maddie Binding.

Pentucket loaded the bases with singles in the third with one out. Mary Kate Corrado’s grounder to short resulted in a baserunner interference call on Tyler Feeney but pinchrunner Sarah Stewart reached home with Pentucket’s second run.

confusion in the Triton outfield

Ahead 2-0, the visitors created two runs in the fifth inning off of Triton reliever Haley Johnson. Kassidy Kennefick put down a perfect bunt to reach. Then Tyler Feeney lofted a popup into right field that was misjudged by rightfielder Cailin Fraser allowing Kassidy to reach third. Kassidy then scored on Sydney Snow’s RBI single with Tyler taking third. Tyler surprised the Vikings by stealing home after a throwback from catcher Julia Hartman to pitcher Haley Johnson.

The final Pentucket run was set up in the sixth inning by a sacrifice bunt (Jenny Nelson) that alert baserunner Nicolette Kent used to get from first to third on. That baserunning put Nicolette at third where she came home on senior Allison Knowles sacrifice fly.

Pitcher Jenny Nelson eyes an infield popup with second baseman Sydney Snow behind her

And while Pentucket was finding ways to score runs, the Vikings struggled to get baserunners. They had only four in the entire game. Triton had only one fly-ball out. They did get runners to second and third in the sixth inning but pitcher Jenny Nelson handled Emma McGonagle’s popup to end the inning.

Shortstop Kassidy Kennefick made a nice running catch in foul territory in the fourth inning.

Triton’s second baseman Kylie Gilroy put on quite a show in the Pentucket seventh. The senior captain handled three tough chances flawlessly: (1) running catch on a popup, (2) speared a line drive to her right, and (3) came up with a hard-hit grounder to throw out Sydney Snow. Good stuff!

The top four hitters in the Pentucket lineup (Maddie Binding, Kassidy Kennefick, Tyler Feeney, and Sydney Snow) each had two hits. The rest of the batting order…………..not so much!

Triton’s next game will be at Masconomet on Wednesday. Pentucket hosts Manchester-Essex tomorrow (Tuesday).

Weather? When you get a breeze at Triton that feels good, you know it’s warm out and it was.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Mara Spears

Lilly Anderson

Triton second baseman Kylie Gilroy had 3 defensive gems in the 7th inning

Triton shortstop Rylie Culverwell throws to first

Freshman Haley Johnson

Kassidy Kennefick heads home with the 4th Pentucket run

Kylie Gilroy

Nikki ORourke

Jenny Nelson

Sydney Snow

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Filed under Cape Ann League, Pentucket, Triton

Tagged as Haley Johnson, Jenny Nelson, Kassidy Kennefick, Maddie Binding, Mara Spears, Mary Kate Corrado

May 10, 2014 · 9:50 pm

Top Toronto Blue Jays prospect Aaron Sanchez sighted in visit to New Hampshire Fisher Cats game

The top prospect of the Toronto Blue Jays (Aaron Sanchez) warms up

Aaron Sanchez views the action from the Fisher Cats dugout

(Manchester NH) I saw the Binghamton Mets defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 6-0, on a Wednesday morning/afternoon Eastern League game.

The weather was beautiful with plenty of Manchester (NH) school kids on hand for the 10:35AM start.

New Hampshire is the AA minor league team of the Toronto Blue Jays. With a little bit of homework I learned that the Blue Jays #1 prospect, pitcher Aaron Sanchez, was on the New Hampshire roster.

Pitchers are the most challenging to get pictures of unless they are pitching. Otherwise they’re usually out in the bullpen far away from any pictures ……… unless they’re pitching the next game. And that was the case today with Aaron. He was scheduled to pitch tomorrow (Thursday), so he warmed up briefly before the game and then was in the dugout.

Aaron was drafted in the first round by Toronto in 2010. The 21-year-old can get over 95MPH with his fastball and is developing pitches to go with the heater.

Similar to Mookie Betts of Portland, Aaron should be at AAA before the 2014 season is over.

Greg Peavey pitched a 2-hitter for Binghamton

Even though Aaron didn’t pitch, I saw a pretty good pitcher in Binghamton’s Greg Peavey. The Mets rightly pitched a complete game two hitter.

Fisher Cats starter Casey Lawrence served up a 3-run homer down the rightfield line to Brian Burgamy in the third inning. That shot provided more than enough runs for Greg Peavey.

Third baseman Andy Burns is off to a nice start with New Hampshire so I took a number of pictures of him.

I was disappointed with the efforts of Fungo the mascot. He tried to outrun one of the kid spectators and didn’t come close to getting the job done. The big problem was the bad start. The kid was so confident that he was looking over his shoulder as he went from third to home.

They had a shirt shoot that stirred plenty of excitement. I have seen that done at the TD Garden but not at an outdoor event.

Shortstop Kevin Nolan made a nice stop and throw on a ball deep in the hole.

Andy Burns turns a popup into an adventure

Andy Burns nearly misjudged a foul popup. He came in for it and then started fading back eventually ending up on his back after he made the catch. His teammates were merciless to him when he returned to the dugout.

I continue to recommend a visit to a minor league baseball game at the home of the Fisher Cats, Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. The prices are good and the entertainment is constant. You can get close to the action and you may well see one of the future stars of major league baseball.

Thanks again to media relations boss Tom Gauthier for arranging for my visit.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Kevin Nolan (SS) jumps and throws

shirt shoot

Aaron Sanchez in the dugout

Andy Burns at third

Andy Burns

Andy Burns throws

Aaron Sanchez warms up

Aaron Sanchez

Fungo loses again

Aaron Sanchez

Andy Burns

NH starter Casey Lawrence

Binghamton catcher Xorge Carrillo eyes a popup

Andy Burns in on a bunt

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Filed under Binghamton Mets, New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Tagged as Aaron Sanchez, Andy Burns, Greg Peavey, Kevin Nolan

May 8, 2014 · 11:16 pm

Amesbury holds off Ipswich 2-1 in Cape Ann League baseball

Pat Scanlon scores the second Amesbury run on a close play at the plate.

Ben Cullen gets the first Amesbury run on an infield out

(Ipswich MA) Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning but only one team (Amesbury) came away with runs.

The two runs that the Indians scored in the first inning proved to be the difference as Amesbury defeated Ipswich, 2-1, on a beautiful Thursday afternoon of Cape Ann League baseball.

The victory put an eight-game losing streak to rest for the Indians (4-9).

The Tigers (2-10) wasted a terrific pitching performance by senior Sean Whooley. Sean allowed only four hits and had six strikeouts.

Chris Grady scores on a hit by Mike Savoie

The missing ingredient for Ipswich on this day was big hits. By “big hits” I mean ones when there are teammates in scoring position. The only “big hit” for Ipswich was by Mike Savoie in the third inning when he drove in Chris Grady from third. The rest of the opportunities, and there were ten of them, were squandered.

Nick Hawrylciw picked up the win for the Indians with a complete-game, six-hitter. The senior stranded ten runners.

His biggest pitch of the game? His last one. The Tigers had runners on second and third with two out. Austin Rubino was the batter with a 3-2 count. Nick Hawrylciw’s pitch hit Austin but to everyone’s surprise Austin was called out. Why? Batter’s interference. I spoke with both umpires afterwards and they explained that the batter (Austin) had leaned into the strike zone when he got hit therefore the pitch was called a strike. It ended the game with Nick Hawrylciw getting credited with a strikeout.

Austin Rubino about to be called for batter interference

Amesbury capitalized on Ipswich miscues to get their two runs in the first inning. The Indians started off the first with Ben Cullen getting hit by a pitch, Pat Scanlon reaching on an error (Chris Grady), and Mac Short walking. Nick Hawrylciw’s fielder’s choice brought Ben Cullen across. Then pitcher Sean Whooley’s pitch in the dirt escaped catcher Jon O’Brien and Pat Scanlon was able to slide into home on a very close play.

Twice during the game Amesbury was able to pull their infield in and prevent runs from scoring on groundouts.

Ben Cullen tries for third base.

Amesbury sent only twelve batters to the plate in the final four innings. In a bizarre fifth inning, the Indians had two hits (Chris Chioffi and Ben Cullen) but both runners were thrown out by IHS catcher Jon O’Brien.

In the seventh inning, Ipswich had a great chance to tie the game. First batter Dan Bennett walked but then was picked off first. Sure enough, next batter Sean Whooley singled, and after a popout, Freddy Cerundolo doubled. Minus the pickoff, the Tigers have tied the game.

Leftfielder Alex Morris about to make a running catch

Alex Morris paced Ipswich with two hits. He also made a great catch to end the second inning.

CAL All-League catcher Mac Short blocked a number of pitches in the dirt.

Ipswich won the earlier meeting between the two teams, 6-3, on April 18th.

Both teams return to action on Saturday morning. Ipswich hosts Rockport and Amesbury hosts Manchester-Essex.

Ipswich has now lost seven straight games.

Weather? Absolutely perfect.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Sean Whooley

Mike Savoie

Chris Chioffi

Nick Hawrylciw

Pickoff attempt

Chris Chioffi out stealing

Chris Grady bunts

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Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Ipswich

Tagged as Ben Cullen, Nick Hawrylciw, Pat Scanlon, Sean Whooley

May 7, 2014 · 8:55 pm

Rockport ends Triton’s five-game win streak with 8-0 shutout

Jess Collins: 4 innings/1 hit/3 strikeouts

Hannah Lorden: 3 innings/2 hits/2 strikeouts

Emily Faulds tracks a popup

(Byfield MA) Triton ran into some excellent Rockport pitching and defense and lost, 8-0, on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon of Cape Ann League softball.

Senior Hannah Lorden and junior Jess Collins scattered three hits and never allowed a Triton baserunner to get past second base. The defense behind them made every play without an error.

The home team certainly didn’t help their chances of scoring some runs by running into two outs on the base paths.

Rockport took charge of this game in the fifth inning. Eleven batters came to the plate and six of them scored. Two Triton errors extended the inning for the visitors.

Rockport (7-4) picked up an unearned run in the first inning. Second baseman Kylie Gilroy dropped a popup by leadoff batter Hannah Lorden. Later in the inning, junior Kayla Parisi’s long double to center brought Hannah across.

Second baseman Kylie Gilroy makes a nice catch

Triton (5-10) kept Rockport off the scoreboard in the third and fourth thanks to some terrific defense. Rightfielder Cara Orlandi ended the Rockport third with a nice running catch. In the fourth, pitcher Mara Spears ended that one with a stab of a grounder that would have scored runs had it gone through.

Things unraveled for Triton in the fifth inning. Errors by centerfielder Casey Ross and shortstop Rylie Culverwell gave Rockport extra at bats. The visitors had six hits including doubles by Rachel Haselgard and Jess Collins which each delivered two runs. CF Casey Ross was injured running in on a fly ball during the inning and had to leave the game.

Rockport loaded the bases in the seventh inning. Hannah Lorden drove Meghan Tupper home with the 8th Rockport run.

Meghan Tupper had three hits, scored two runs, and had an RBI. Teammates Hannah Lorden, Emily Faulds, and Rachel Davis all had two hits for Rockport.

Senior Mollie Watson will be attending Division 2 Southern New Hampshire next year. Mara Spears will be going to Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

Emma McGonagle had two of Triton’s three hits.

Weather? Blue sky and no wind. Beautiful afternoon.

Lily Anderson nearly picked off first base

Emma McGonagle and Lily Anderson made outs on the bases for Triton.

Rockport has won three straight. They will be at Lynnfield on Monday.

Triton will be hosting Amesbury on Friday.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Vikings looking for a handle

Casey Ross battles the sun to catch a fly ball in center.

Christine Ciccone fields a grounder

Lily Anderson doubled off second

Meaghan Wonson

Kayla Parisi beats Shannon Lyons to first for the final out of the game

Catcher Mollie Watson catches a foul popup

Second baseman Emily Faulds makes a backhand stab

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Filed under Cape Ann League, Rockport, Triton

Tagged as Casey Ross, Emily Faulds, Emma McGonagle, Hannah Lorden, Jess Collins

May 6, 2014 · 10:52 pm

Joey Bertrand sparks 7-5 Saugus win over Ipswich in CAL baseball

Joey Bertrand congratulated after the game

Dan Bennett strikes out to end the game

(Ipswich MA) Saugus ran its winning streak to six as they defeated Ipswich, 7-5, on a windy Tuesday afternoon of Cape Ann League baseball.

Ipswich (2-9) has now lost six straight and maybe none tougher than this one. IHS coach Gardy O’Flynn wasn’t feeling well before the game and I suspect that this excruciating loss did nothing to improve his condition.

The infield play of both teams was very shaky. Of the twelve runs scored only three were earned.

Mike Swanson heads for home with the seventh Sachems run

Saugus senior Joey Bertrand was the difference maker in this game. His two-out, two-strike double scored pinchrunner Mike Swanson and gave the Sachems a two-run cushion in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom half, Ipswich put their first two runners on but Joey came up with an assist and two strikeouts to finish off the Tigers.

Both Kurt Martin and Anthony Freni pitched before Joey Bertrand closed out the final 2 2/3 innings.

In a game with eight infield errors, one terrific defensive play by Sachems first baseman Mike Molina stood out. Why? Ipswich had already scored a run in the sixth inning and only trailed 6-5 with a runner in scoring position. Saugus third baseman Alex Pettanati fielded Alex Rubino’s two-out grounder cleanly but his throw was low. However, Mike Molina scooped the ball out of the dirt preventing the tying run from coming across.

Ipswich had baserunners galore thanks to four Saugus errors, seven walks, and six hits. The Tigers did get five runs but they stranded runners in every inning.

Luke Sirois (#4) caught in a rundown by catcher Johnny Prentice

The biggest play in this game may have been in the fourth inning when Ipswich, with one run already in, loaded the bases with one out. You had to assume that Chris Grady’s fly ball to centerfield would score Luke Sirois from third…….but instead it turned into a double play. Luke was late tagging up and then was tagged out in a rundown. Ouch!

Ryan Silva pitched the first four innings for Ipswich while Alex Morris pitched the final three.

The Tigers scored in the first when Dan Bennett was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch, and third on a fielder’s choice. Freddy Cerendolo’s sharp single to left brought Dan home.

The Sachems (8-5) picked up a run after singles by Pat Murray and Joey Bertrand in the second inning set up Alex Pettanati for a sacrifice fly.

The Tigers defense allowed two Saugus runs in the third inning. A Ryan Silva strikeout escaped catcher Jay Galoski allowing the batter to reach first and a run to score. Chris Grady also had an error at third in this inning.

Ball goes through second baseman Liam Sullivan

Two more Ipswich miscues led to three unearned runs in the fourth inning. First shortstop Mike Savoie and then second baseman Liam Sullivan booted what would have been the final out of the inning.

Credit Ipswich. Though down, 6-1, they came up with runs in the 4th, 5th, and 6th to close to 6-5.

An Alex Pettanati error set up the Ipswich run in the fourth. That also was the inning an Ipswich run could have scored from third on a fly ball but didn’t.

In the Ipswich fifth, the Tigers picked up two runs. Ryan Silva’s fielder’s choice drove across Austin Rubino. An error by Saugus shortstop Jay Lever produced the second Ipswich run.

After Dan Bennett singled and reached second on a fielder’s choice, Jay Lever’s low throw to first on Freddy Cerendolo’s grounder allowed Dan to cross with the fifth Ipswich score.

Joey Bertrand

But 6-5 was as close as Ipswich would get. Joey Bertrand’s RBI in the seventh iced it for the visitors.

Dan Bennett had two hits and scored two runs for Ipswich.

Weather? Sometimes the sun was out and sometimes it wasn’t. The wind was steady and chilling when the sun went in.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Ryan Silva

Dan Cacciola

Austin Rubino (#14) looks to be in trouble

Third baseman Chris Grady throws to first

Mike Savoie

Johnny Prentice gets picked off first

SHS starter Kurt Martin

Ryan Silva steals second

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Filed under Cape Ann League, Ipswich, Saugus

Tagged as Dan Bennett, Joey Bertrand, Ryan Silva

May 5, 2014 · 8:51 pm

Shelby O’Brien leads Newburyport past Amesbury 10-3

Celebrating begins as Shelby OBrien (#11) crosses home in the first inning

Shelby OBrien was flawless in the field and started a double play

(Amesbury MA) “Hey, she’s human!”

That’s what one of the spectators yelled after Amesbury’s Zoe Fitzgerald ripped a grounder down the line past third baseman Shelby O’Brien in the sixth inning.

Why? Junior Shelby O’Brien was having a remarkable game in the field and at the bat. She had handled tough chances and routine chances flawlessly. She even had started a double play. But there were equally good things when Shelby batted: a home run, two doubles and four RBI.

In the end, Newburyport defeated Amesbury, 10-3, on a sunny/windy Monday afternoon of Cape Ann League softball.

Meghan Stanton finishes her run around the bases

Meghan Stanton also homered and Stephanie Gleason added a triple as part of Newburyport’s 13-hit barrage.

Amesbury (6-4) had plenty of hits (nine) but were short on the big hit. The Indians left runners on base in every inning.

Amanda Schell led Amesbury with three hits and two RBI. She also scored a run.

Lauren Singer also had a big day for the Clippers (7-5) with two hits and three RBI.

Newburyport picked up three runs in the first inning. Morgan Johnson singled and Carley Siemasko reached on an error (Maddy Napoli) before Shelby launched a 3-run blast over centerfielder Meagan Aponas’ head.

In the third the Clippers added two more runs. Carley Siemasko ripped a single off of AHS starter Sammy Stone’s glove before Shelby doubled to right center. Lauren Singer’s single to right tallied both runners.

Amanda Schell (3 hits and 2 rbi)

Behind 5-0, the Indians rallied back in their half of the third. An infield hit and an infield error (Morgan Johnson) opened the door for Amanda Schell to drive in both baserunners (Alexi Boswell and Lucy Scholz) with a single to right center.

Newburyport put their big bats back to work in the fourth. Stephanie Gleason tripled to right center and Ashley Hodge singled her home. The Indians looked to be out of the inning after second baseman Lauren Fedorchak started a nifty double play. But on this day the runs kept coming for NHS. After Carley Siemasko walked, Shelby had a wind-blown double to left scoring Carley. Lauren Singer added another run with a single bringing Shelby home.

Next inning (fifth) the Clippers would add two more to their 8-2 lead against Rachel Cyr who replaced starter Sammy Stone. Amy Sullivan walked and was the baserunner when Meghan Stanton homered to right center.

Alexi Boswell at second base

Newburyport carried a 10-2 leading into the bottom of the seventh. Amesbury put three hits together for a run as Autumn Kligerman drove across Amanda Schell but that was it for the Indians.

The win enables the Clippers to sweep the season series with the Indians. Newburyport pulled out a walkoff 16-15 win in April in Newburyport.

Everyone in the Newburyport lineup either scored a run or had a hit.

Vicki Allman went the distance for the Clippers. She surrendered nine hits but gave up no extra base hits and allowed only one walk. Vicki certainly had plenty of run support in this one.

Zoe Fitzgerald had two hits for the Indians.

Amesbury was coming off of a 9-8 eight inning win over a North Reading team that had only lost once.

The sun was very tough for those playing on the right side of the field.

Amesbury returns to action tomorrow at Saugus. Newburyport will wait until Wednesday to resume play when they will host Ipswich.

It takes ten wins for a team to qualify for the post-season tournament.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Pitcher Vicki Allman (#4) congratulates her teammates after the game

Lauren Fedorchak about to tag Amy Sullivan

Vicki Allman in her pitching motion

Centerfielder Meagan Aponas tracks a fly ball and rightfielder Alexi Boswell looks on

Pitcher Sammy Stone readies to fire to first

Shelby OBrien bats

Morgan Johnson sets to throw to first

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Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Newburyport

Tagged as Amanda Schell, Meghan Stanton, Shelby O'Brien, Vicki Allman, Zoe Fitzgerald

May 4, 2014 · 8:38 pm

Newburyport holds off Amesbury 5-4 in Cape Ann League baseball

Scott Webster congratulated after recording the final out

Spencer Fournier takes the final swing of the game

(Amesbury MA) Amesbury changed dugouts, uniforms and even had some help from the sun but it wasn’t enough as Newburyport defeated the Indians, 5-4, on a sunny/cloudy Sunday afternoon.

With the victory Newburyport (4-7) ended a three-game winless streak. The Clippers claimed four runs in the first inning and the eventual game-winner in the fourth inning.

Amesbury (3-9) saw its losing streak reach eight. The Indians tallied twice in the first and sixth innings.

After the 4-run first, AHS starter Zack Fitzgerald yielded just a run and three hits the rest of the way.

Travis Wile flips the ball to pitcher James Nutter covering first

James Nutter (5 1/3 innings) and Scott Webster (1 2/3 innings) handled the pitching for Newburyport. They allowed only five hits and two walks. Scott struck out the last two Indians to preserve the win.

Newburyport loaded the bases in the first inning with no outs. Scott Webster drove in two of the baserunners (Caleb Stott and Chance Carpenter) with a single to left center. An Amesbury attempt to get the second runner at home allowed the other two NHS runners to end up in scoring position. Later in the inning Dan Baribeault’s two-out, two-strike single to right delivered both Ryan Furlong and Scott Webster.

Ben Cullen heads for home

Amesbury came back in the bottom of the first to load the bases with one out. Spencer Fournier’s fly ball scored Ben Cullen from third. On that play the NHS throw from the outfield came home but the throw (catcher Scott Webster) back to second was wild and the two runners ended up in scoring position. A passed ball (Scott Webster) allowed Pat Scanlon to cross with Amesbury’s second run.

So after one inning both teams, in my opinion, had given up an extra run. At that point I envisioned a lot of runs the rest of the way. But it didn’t go that way thanks to good pitching and sound defense.

The Clippers collected their important fifth run in fourth inning. Caleb Stott reached on a perfect bunt and then stole second. Caleb took third on Chance Carpenter’s fielder’s choice and scored on Ryan Furlong’s single to deep short.

Ryan Furlong and catcher Mac Short collide at the plate

Newburyport came close to a second run in that fourth inning but a good throw by shortstop Ben Cullen to catcher Mac Short nailed Ryan Furlong at the plate.

Amesbury entered their sixth down 5-2 but added two runs with help from the sun. After NHS starter James Nutter put two batters on with a hit batsman and a single, Scott Webster came on in relief. After a strikeout, a wild pitch put two Indians in scoring position with two outs. Then on an afternoon in which the sun was in and out, it popped out on a routine Brad Kelleher fly ball to centerfielder Chance Carpenter. The result was that the two-out, routine fly ball turned into a two-run single. Both Jared Dupere and Zack Fitzgerald came across. Ben Cullen lined to Dan Baribeault to end the sixth but the Indians were within one run, 5-4.

Mac Short walked with one out in the Amesbury seventh but then Scott Webster caught Nick Hawrylciw looking and Spencer Fournier swinging to give NHS their 4th win.