(Georgetown) You can’t always tell the end from the beginning.
Amesbury starter Aiden Donovan hit the first two Georgetown batters, walked the next one, and gave up a two-run single to Jack Lucido in the first inning.
I’m not sure you could have a worse beginning.
But at the end the final score was 6-2 in favor of Amesbury.
Amesbury won the two-day Spofford Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Georgetown.
After the shaky start, Aiden Donovan retired the next three batters he faced to limit the damage to two runs. Over the next five innings, he only allowed two baserunners (on walks). That first-inning single was the only hit he allowed. Talk about a recovery!
“Credit to (Aiden) Donovan,” said Georgetown coach Phil Desilets afterwards. “He settled down. He got in a groove, and we couldn’t get anything going against him.”
Georgetown found its own share of trouble in the first inning. A walk, a hit batsman, and two errors opened up opportunities for Amesbury.
Tourney MVP Shea Cucinotti delivered the first Amesbury run with a sacrifice fly and Aiden Donovan’s blooper to rightfield delivered two more.
Zach Gilmore took over pitching for the Royals in the second inning and quieted Amesbury for three straight innings.
The Amesbury fifth inning was a different story. Shea Cucinotta started things with a single and then Drew Scialdone homered over the 342 foot sign in left center.
“It was an outside pitch, but I pulled it,” said Drew afterwards. “I thought it was a popup, but I’ll take the home run.”
“If you have a lead, you always want to work to extend it and put more pressure on the other team,” he added. “We were able to do that today.”
“Drew’s homer put us in a nice position,” said Amesbury coach Joel Brierley post-game.
Amesbury increased its comfort zone with a run in the sixth inning. Cam Stanley beat out an infield hit and scored when Jake Harring found the gap in left center.
Coach Brierley brought in Trevor Kimball in the last inning and three straight strikeouts later Amesbury had the victory.
“I thought Aiden (Donovan) pitched awesome today,” said Coach Brierley. “We knew that he would settle down. Very proud of what he did today.”
Senior Shea Cucinotta was selected as the tourney MVP. “I think that this award is about our team, but it means a lot to me,” said Shea. “Everyone played very well. There were tons of hits and great plays in the field. I think we’re in for a heckuva playoff run.”
Amesbury finishes 16-4 in Division 4 and are currently at the top of the Power Rankings. The pairings for the tournament come out this week. If Amesbury lasts, they are assured of home games until the Final Four.
Georgetown finishes 10-10 in Division 5 and are currently fifth in the Power Rankings. That could change because of their win over Newburyport on Saturday.
“We have to turn the page from today’s loss,” said Coach Desilets, “have a great week of practice and get ready for the playoffs.”
“It’s one game at a time from here on out,” he added. “It’s the best time to be playing ball.”
One of the best defensive plays of this game was made by pitcher Zach Gilmore. A foul popup behind the plate looked likely to fall in but Zach raced off the mound to make the catch.
Amesbury pitching (Drew MacDonald, Aiden Donovan, Trevor Kimball) gave up only one hit in the tournament.
Georgetown 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 2
Amesbury 3 0 0 0 2 1 – = 6
McClelland Miscellanea 