(Amesbury) It’s your day, why not put on a show!
And that’s what the three Amesbury seniors did on Senior Day.
Amesbury defeated Hamilton-Wenham, 13-4, on Tuesday afternoon.
Drew MacDonald had five RBI.
Shea Cucinotta had four hits.
Cam Stanley scored three times.
Each of the Amesbury seniors led the category they were mentioned in.
The win evened the season’s series with the (10-9) Generals.
Three weeks ago, HW defeated Amesbury, 2-1, at Patton Park in Hamilton.
“In that 2-1 loss, we left a lot of runners on base,” recalled Amesbury coach Joel Brierley afterwards. “We had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh and couldn’t score.”
“Today, when we got runners on base we scored them,” he added.
Amesbury (14-4) had thirteen hits and received five walks in their six innings at the plate.
Junior Connor McClintock led the Generals with three hits and two RBI. Only a leaping catch by Amesbury shortstop Shea Cucinotta in the fifth inning kept Connor from having four hits.
Connor also impressed on defense. The HW centerfielder showed good lateral range robbing Drew MacDonald of extra bases in the third inning. Later, he rushed in to take a hit away from Jake Harring on a sinking line drive.
“No question, Connor is good,” said HW coach Reggie Maidment afterwards. “We’re glad he’s on our side.”
Connor led off the game with a triple and was driven home by Nick Freni. In the second inning, Connor came up with two runners on and delivered both of them.
Amesbury was able to match the Generals’ run in the first inning with a Drew MacDonald RBI single.
Amesbury picked up three runs in their second inning. Jake Harring had a two-run double and Drew Scialdone had a sacrifice fly.
So, it was 4-3 after two innings in a game that looked to have a high-scoring future.
That future became a reality for Amesbury but not for Hamilton-Wenham.
Amesbury starter Trevor Kimball settled in over the next four innings allowing just one hit (Nick Freni) and one run.
Amesbury gained separation with a five-run fourth inning.
“We had one tough inning,” said Coach Maidment referring to that inning. “We made a few mistakes. Against a lineup like Amesbury’s, you can’t do that or it’s going to hurt you.”
Amesbury batted around in their productive fifth inning. The big hit was Drew MacDonald’s bases-clearing double. Will Arsenault and Shea Cucinotta drove in single runs.
Amesbury picked up an unearned run in the sixth inning and batted around (again) to collect three more runs in their sixth inning.
“This was probably one of our best team performances of the season,” said Coach Brierley post-game. “Trevor threw strikes and got a lot of outs. Our defense was good, and we hit the ball.”
Today’s game featured two of the best teams in the state in Division 4. Amesbury is ranked second while Hamilton-Wenham is fourth in the MIAA Power Rankings that came out May 23rd.
The two teams could face each other again but this time in the post-season. Being so highly ranked, that possible next meeting would probably be somewhere in Final Four territory.
It was indeed a big day for Amesbury’s three seniors. The trio scored six runs, had nine hits, and drove in eight runs.
Hamilton-Wenham 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 = 4
Amesbury 1 3 0 5 1 3 – = 13
The weather became less comfortable as the afternoon wore on.
McClelland Miscellanea 