Monthly Archives: May 2022

May 10, 2022 · 10:40 pm

Amesbury gets strong pitching/hitting in 9-3 win over North Reading

Drew Scialdone (with Coach Brierley) had three hits and four RBI

(Amesbury) Amesbury (9-4) got excellent pitching and hitting and defeated North Reading, 9-3, on Tuesday afternoon.

Trevor Kimball went the distance and the Amesbury hitters had ten hits.

“Amesbury is a really good team especially with (Trevor) Kimball on the mound,” said NR coach Eric Archambault afterwards.

Trevor had eight strikeouts and ended each of the final four innings with K’s.

The Hornets (7-6) left baserunners in all seven innings. “We had our chances,” said Coach Archambault, “and we might have gained some momentum with some timely hitting.”

Drew Scialdone and Shea Cucinotta carried the Amesbury offense.

Drew was three-for-four, scored twice, and drove in four runs.

Shea also had three hits. In his other at-bat the AIC commit walked. He scored four runs.

“When guys are on base, you have to be a timely hitter and knock them in,” said Drew post-game.

“In my second at-bat I told myself not to swing at a curve,” he added. “But I got two strikes on me and so I took a swing at a curve and got a hit.”

“Drew has been awesome for us,” said Coach Brierley. “He’s hitting over .500 and has great confidence.”

Amesbury jumped ahead in the first as Drew’s double scored Shea.

In the third inning, Drew’s single (off a curve) produced one run and Will Arsenault’s single brought home two more.

Nick Doucette’s single in the fourth inning delivered Ryan McCullough. That lessened the NR deficit to 4-1.

Amesbury responded with their biggest inning of the game. Drew was again in the middle of the hitting attack. This time it was a single that drove home Luke Arsenault and Jake Harring. Trouble in the NR outfield led to two more runs in that productive fourth inning.

The Hornets put three hits together in their fifth inning. Ryan Baker and Aldo Vittozzi had RBI. Matt Ryan (who had three hits) scored one of North Reading’s two runs.

Trevor held the Hornets scoreless in the final two innings.

“He (Trevor) mixed his pitches, threw strikes, and commanded the zone,” said Coach Archambault.

“Trevor was phenomenal,” added Coach Brierley. “He was throwing breaking balls for strikes and he was keeping his fastball low.”

Second baseman Jake Harring made a nice play behind second base on a grounder at the start of the North Reading fifth.

“Our defense, for the most part, made the plays,” said Jake.

Amesbury has three straight wins over North Reading.

North Reading is now 0-5 on the road. “We’ve got to get back to the lab and turn things around,” said Coach Archambault.

Amesbury is now 6-2 in the Cape Ann League while the Hornets drop to 4-5.

A common occurrence in most of the games I’ve covered is that the visiting team arrives late, as North Reading did today. The reason is almost always the same one, getting a bus.

The weather was cold, windy, and unpleasant. I’m hearing of 80’s on Saturday. Now won’t that be nice!

North Reading 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 = 3

Amesbury 1 0 3 4 0 1 – = 9

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Drew Scialdone tries to score on a passed ball. Catcher Alex Carucci applies the tag for the out.

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Filed under Amesbury, North Reading

Tagged as Coach Eric Archambault, Coach Joel Brierley, Drew Scialdone, Matt Ryan, Shea Cucinotta, Trevor Kimball

May 9, 2022 · 10:33 pm

Meg Hamel’s two homers lead Pentucket to 17-1 win over Saugus

Meg Hamel went deep twice against Saugus

Kendra Griffin had three hits and scored four times

(Groveland) You’re there at the Groveland Pines dog park to watch your dog get some exercise.

Today that watching also needed to include incoming softballs.

Especially when #15 was batting.

Twice today Pentucket’s Meg Hamel cleared the leftfield fence. The second shot was a grand slam.

Pentucket routed Saugus, 17-1.

Who saw this coming?

Two weeks ago, the teams met in Saugus and the home team won, 9-8.

Coach Deb Smith and Coach Steve Almquist

“Talk about night and day,” said Saugus coach Steve Almquist afterwards. “They hit the ball all day and we couldn’t make any plays.”

“The last time we played there were a lot of errors, and we didn’t string hits together,” recalled Pentucket coach Deb Smith.

Neither one of those was a problem today for the home team at Groveland Pines.

Pentucket had fifteen hits in the four innings they batted.

“We’re on a roll with our hits,” said Coach Smith. “We’re hitting the ball hard now.”

In the Pentucket first, the first two batters reached and Nikki Mitchell singled them home. Meg Hamel then launched the first of her home runs. Instantly, it was, 4-0.

The Sachems (6-5) got a run back in the second. A throwing error and several wild pitches allowed Devany Millerick (who had singled) to score for Saugus.

A two-out infield error enabled Kendra Griffin to get the run back in the second inning. Kendra eventually scored four times and had three hits in the game.

Two weeks ago, Saugus spotted Pentucket four runs early and then rallied to take the lead for good.

Not today.

Pentucket (6-6) blew open the 5-1 game in the 4^th inning. Sixteen batters went to the plate and Pentucket collected twelve runs on eight hits.

Saugus hurt themselves defensively with three errors in the disastrous inning.

The visitors were also unlucky. A Pentucket batter reached after striking out. In another situation, Saugus had their infield in with the bases loaded and a popup fell in just where they would normally have been positioned. It just wasn’t their day!

3B Emma Lopata handles an infield chance

“They gave us extra outs and we took advantage,” said Coach Smith.

Meg Hamel had homered in the first, struck out in the second, and struck out the first time she batted in the 4^th inning. On the senior’s second at-bat in the 4^th inning she again went deep, this time with the bases loaded.

“It felt really good to get them,” Meg said afterwards.

“Meg Hamel was awesome today,” said Coach Smith. “I loved that. She works so hard. I’m so happy for her.”

Nikki Mitchell scored three times and had three RBI

Lost in all the Pentucket offense was the three-hit pitching of Molly LeBel. Molly held the Sachems hitless in the final two innings. She also had nine strikeouts in the game.

“We didn’t do much right today,” said Coach Almquist. “Pentucket is a very good team. We’re going to try and get them back on our schedule next year.”

Felicia Reppucci, Fallon Millerick, and Devany Millerick had the hits for Saugus.

Nikki Mitchell had two hits, three RBI, and scored three times for Pentucket.

Kayla Murphy had a solid game at short and scored three times.

The wind today was persistent often stirring up dust.

Saugus 0 1 0 0 0 = 1

Pentucket 4 1 0 12 – = 17

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Saugus pitcher Fallon Millerick sets to throw to first base

Meg Hamel surrounded after two-run homer in the first inning.

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Filed under Pentucket, Saugus

Tagged as Coach Deb Smith, Coach Steve Almquist, Devancy Millerick, Kayla Murphy, Kendra Griffin, Meg Hamel, Nikki Mitchell

May 7, 2022 · 8:54 pm

Charlie Forrest tosses 1-hitter as Clippers defeat North Reading 10-0

(Newburyport) It figured to be a close game.

North Reading and Newburyport had played in April and the Clippers needed three runs over the final two innings to pull out a, 5-4, win.

Charlie Forrest had pitched well in that one in long relief (four innings) to get the win.

Charlie was the starter this afternoon and he took “pitched well” to another level.

The final was Newburyport 10, North Reading 0, in a mercy-rule ending in the sixth inning.

Charlie tossed a one-hitter and retired the last nine Hornets in order.

“Charlie was dealing out there today,” said Clippers coach Mark Rowe afterwards.

He certainly wasn’t overpowering. Just effective.

“I was just throwing strikes,” explained Charlie post-game. “My teammates made all the plays.”

Making plays was what North Reading struggled to do today. The Hornets (7-5) also had runners thrown out at second and third.

“We played terribly,” said NR coach Eric Archambault afterwards. “This was our worst game of the season.”

“As a team we pride ourselves in our defense and baserunning and those two things absolutely killed us today,” he added.

“We took advantage of the extra chances they gave us,” said Coach Rowe. “We made good contact all day.”

The Clippers (10-3) had twelve hits spread among eight players. Connor Stick, Jack Fehlner, Brady Ford, and Ty Cowles had two hits each.

An error, a wild pitch, and four hits produced Newburyport’s first three runs in the second inning.

The Clippers batted around in the fourth inning. Two more NR errors and four Newburyport hits turned into four more runs for the home team.

Meanwhile, Charlie Forrest, after giving up a hit to Craig Rubino in the first inning, was cruising.

“Their pitcher did a great job,” said Coach Archambault. “He was hitting his spots and making his pitches, the whole thing.”

The Hornets’ Zach Rosatone reached second base in the second inning but was picked off.

In the third inning, pinch-runner Max Forristall tried to advance to third on a fly ball and was gunned down.

Charlie didn’t allow a baserunner over the final three innings.

Connor Stick scores the 6th Newburyport run

“My curve was working good especially low in the count,” explained Charlie. “I followed it up later with the fastball that usually got them.”

The Clippers took a 7-0 lead into their half of the sixth inning. They added two more hits and took three walks to get the three runs they needed to end the game. Jack Sullivan’s walk drove across the winning run.

Six different Clippers had RBI. Luke Stallard and Jack Fehlner each scored twice to lead in that category.

Coach Rowe: “We expected a battle today. They’ve been playing great. They’ve been scoring a ton of runs.”

Coach Archambault: “Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve had a bunch of good games recently and we dropped one today. We got to respond going forward.”

Newburyport’s five seniors (Ty Cowles, Luke Stallard, Jack Fehlner, Owen Roberts, Brady Ford) were honored pre-game.

The weather was unpleasant. Today we had temps in the low 50’s with a 20MPH wind.

North Reading 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0

Newburyport 0 3 0 4 0 3 = 10

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Jason Curran fields a grounder as pitcher Ryan Labb runs to cover 1B

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Filed under Newburyport, North Reading

Tagged as Charlie Forrest, Coach Eric Archambault, Coach Mark Rowe, Craig Rubino

May 6, 2022 · 10:31 pm

Solid pitching/hitting leads Pentucket to 11-1 win over Ipswich

Molly LeBel gave up two hits and struck out fourteen

(Groveland) “It all got put together today,” said Pentucket pitcher Molly LeBel.

Molly sure did her part, allowing only two singles and striking out fourteen.

The Pentucket bats and defense were equally good in their 11-1 win over Ipswich at Groveland Pines on Friday afternoon.

Pentucket (5-5) had hits and runs in every inning and were flawless in the field.

Molly LeBel came into the game with her eye on reaching 100 strikeouts for the season.

“I set a goal for myself to get there today,” she said. “I needed seven.”

Molly reaches her 7^th at the end of a run of six straight strikeouts 2/3 of the way into the third inning.

“We faced a really good pitcher today,” said Ipswich coach Paul James afterwards. “She threw hard, and she got ahead of us.”

Pentucket had twelve hits and they were spread out throughout the game.

“We’re doing a much better job of coming out strong, of figuring out the pitcher right away,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith.

Three batters into the first inning, the home team had two runs. Kendra Griffin had a bunt single, Kayla Murphy tripled, and Nikki Mitchell had a fielder’s choice to get Pentucket off to a great start.

Seven different players had hits in the game for Pentucket. Six different players scored runs and six different players had RBI.

“Everyone did their job,” said Emma Lopata post-game. “We had a lot of big hits.”

Emma had the best stats with three hits, three runs, and three RBI.

One of Emma’s hits cleared the fence in left in the second inning and landed in the dog park.

“That was the first home run I’ve ever hit at any level,” she said.

She did add with a laugh that, “if the homer had hit a dog she would have felt badly.”

Sydney Pichette had a two-run double in the third and Emma had a two-run double in the fourth inning as Pentucket sent up nine batters and scored four runs.

By the end of the fourth inning Pentucket led, 9-0.

Molly went 4 2/3 innings without allowing a hit. Annabel Morris broke up the no-hitter with a grounder to deep short. Lexi James followed with another single and Alexa Eliopoulos (who had reached on a dropped third strike) came in to score for the Tigers (3-5).

Molly retired seven straight batters after that to emerge with an 11-1 win.

Pentucket is now 5-5.

“We didn’t quit today,” said Coach James. “We’re getting better. Tomorrow, we play Whittier.”

Freshman Kayla Murphy had two triples and scored three runs.

Sophomore Julia Connelly scored twice as a pinch-runner.

Bailey Stock and Sydney Pichette both had two hits for Pentucket.

Ipswich starter Annabel Morris pitched her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.

Molly only walked two batters. “She was steady today,” said Coach Smith.

The weather worked for me today, cloudy with temps in the 60’s.

Ipswich 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 = 1

Pentucket 2 1 2 4 1 1 – = 11

(The pictures will enlarge.)

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Filed under Ipswich, Pentucket

Tagged as Annabel Morris, Coach Deb Smith, Coach Paul James, Emma Lopata, Kayla Murphy, Lexi James, Molly LeBel

May 5, 2022 · 10:15 pm

Vaughn O’Leary tosses 2-hitter as Manchester-Essex shuts out Pentucket 4-0

Colin Coyne scores the first Hornets run

Ethan Hunt had 12 K’s in six innings of relief

(Groveland) The two runs that Manchester-Essex put up in the first inning didn’t seem like too much at the time.

But then the pitching of Hornets starter Vaughn O’Leary kicked in and those runs grew in size as the innings rolled by.

Manchester-Essex defeated Pentucket, 4-0, on Thursday afternoon at Groveland Pines.

Vaughn finished with a two-hitter and collected eleven strikeouts.

“The umpire was giving me the outside corner and I was able to command all my pitches,” said Vaughn afterwards. “I know I’m on when I can start with off-speed pitches against 3-4-5 hitters.”

“I give their pitcher a lot of credit,” said Pentucket coach Kevin Murray. “He didn’t throw many balls. He came right at our hitters and attacked us all game. He lived on the outside and we didn’t do a great job of adjusting to that.”

A walk (Colin Coyne), and a double (Ryan Andrews) were followed by a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice. The result was a two-run first inning for the visitors.

“Obviously, getting two runs in the first helped us a lot,” said Hornets coach James Weed post-game. “It puts pressure on the other team.”

Coach Murray brought on Ethan Hunt to pitch in the second inning. The UMass Boston commit struck out twelve Hornets over the next six inning of relief.

“Ethan pitched very well,” said Coach Murray. “Even during the inning with the runs, the hits weren’t hit that hard.”

Pentucket’s best chance to get back in the game was in the third inning. An infield error and a Max Ligols’ single put two runners on with no outs. Vaughn then struck out the next three batters to end the threat and the inning.

Manchester-Essex (6-3) added two more runs in the sixth inning. The Hornets had two hits early in the inning (Ryan Andrews, Henry Otterbein) and two hits later on (Mike D’Oreo, Zak Porat) to drive in the runs.

Pentucket (5-5) got two runners on with two outs in their half of the sixth inning, but Vaughn ended the threat by getting Chase Dwight to fly out deep to center.

Vaughn O’Leary: “I couldn’t have done it without my defense. We could have lost this game if they hadn’t made plays.”

Coach Weed: “This team reminds me of the 2019 state champion team. They’re not as talented but they’re proving a lot of doubters wrong. They’re hitting as well as the 2019 team. They’re fun to coach. They play with energy.”

Kyle Ventola and Max Ligols had Pentucket’s two hits.

Ryan Andrews and Mike D’Oreo each had two hits for Manchester-Essex.-

The weather was perfect. Not too hot. Not too cold with sunshine.

Manchester-Essex 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 = 4

Pentucket 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0

(The pictures will enlarge.)

2B Justin Majka waits to tag Colby Doane

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Filed under Manchester-Essex, Pentucket

Tagged as Coach James Weed, Coach Kevin Murray, Ethan Hunt, Vaughn O'Leary

May 3, 2022 · 10:16 pm

Pentucket plays ‘best game’ shutting out Newburyport 3-0

Max Ligols had a two-run homer for Pentucket

(Groveland) “It was absolutely our best game of the year,” said Pentucket coach Kevin Murray afterwards.

Pentucket defeated Newburyport, 3-0, on Tuesday afternoon at Groveland Pines.

Chase Dwight pitched a 3-hitter. Max Ligols had a 2-run homer and the Pentucket defense was error-free.

“You have to tip your cap to them (Pentucket),” said Newburyport coach Mark Rowe. “They got the big hits when they needed to, and Chase (Dwight) pitched a great game. He threw strikes and if you do that in this league good things are going to happen.”

The biggest hit was by Pentucket’s Max Ligols. The UMF commit had two strikes on him in the fourth inning before clearing the leftfield fence.

“I was down on the count,” recalled Max. “He threw me a first-pitch curve and then came back with it. I just stayed behind and let loose on it. It was the first homer I’ve ever hit. I didn’t even have one in Little League! It sure felt good.”

Max’s homer brought home teammate James Davis who had a long-count single leading off in that fourth inning.

“No one was an easy out today,” said Coach Murray. “We didn’t have any first-pitch outs and we battled back from 0-2 counts.”

Pentucket collected an unearned run in the previous inning. Trevor Kamuda reached on an infield error, stole second and took third on a fielder’s choice. Chase Dwight’s two-out double brought Trevor home.

Newburyport’s best chance to get run(s) was in the fourth inning. The Clippers loaded the bases with one out. A walk (Lucas Stallard), a double (Owen Tahnk) and an intentional walk (Jack Fehlner) put Newburyport in a good spot. But Pentucket escaped as Chase caught Brady Ford looking and handled Tyler Cowles’ grounder to end the threat.

Pentucket answered with the Max Ligol homer in the bottom half of the fourth and had a 3-0 lead.

Chase retired nine of the last ten batters he faced to earn the win for Pentucket.

“My fastball was my best pitch today,” said Chase afterwards. “I had good location.”

“Our energy was high throughout the game,” he added. “We hit when we needed to. Whenever Newburyport did hit, my teammates were there making the plays.”

Chase told me that he will be attending Mass Maritime Academy in the fall. “I may go out for baseball,” he said. “You have to try out for the team, so we’ll see what happens there.”

The Clippers (8-3) came into today’s game averaging 6.9 runs per game. “We hit a lot of balls hard today but right at people,” said Coach Rowe.

Pentucket (5-4) finished with six hits. Max and Chase had two each. Ethan Hunt and James Davis had the other two hits.

The Clippers had hits from Owen Tahnk, Jack Fehlner, and Connor Stick.

Alex Robertson was solid for Pentucket at first base handling nine chances that included several low throws. “Alex had some nice picks,” said Trevor Kamuda post-game.

Prior to this afternoon’s game, Pentucket had won three straight, before losing to Lynnfield last game.

The Clippers entered today’s game having won seven straight. Last loss was on April 11^th to Amesbury, until this afternoon.

The weather was comfortably warm at the start and then became much cooler later.

Newburyport 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0

Pentucket 0 0 1 2 0 0 – = 3

(The pictures will enlarge.)

James Davis heads for third base in the fourth inning

Chase Dwight had an RBI double in the third inning

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Filed under Newburyport, Pentucket

Tagged as Chase Dwight, Coach Kevin Murray, Max Ligols

May 2, 2022 · 11:08 pm

Pentucket get six to get 7-6 walkoff win vs Notre Dame

(Groveland) “That pitch was just right, that’s all I can say,” said an excited Nikki Mitchell afterwards.

Nikki laced a two-strike, two-out double to right that drove across the game-winner for Pentucket.

“It was amazing,” Nikki said. “I am so happy. I knew we could do it.”

Notre Dame Academy took the hard-luck 7-6 loss on Monday afternoon.

The Lancers (6-3) carried a 6-1 lead into the Pentucket seventh. Lancers’ starter Carly Smith entered the inning with seven strikeouts and no walks. The home team only had two hits.

Lexi Martineau had three hits and scored three runs

There was little reason to think that things would change so drastically in the final half inning.

But change they.

“We’ve been in every game so far and we don’t give up,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith afterwards.

Nikki Mitchell started the inning with a walk and ended the inning with a walkoff double.

Pentucket got four walks in the inning and benefitted from a high throw to the plate that scored a run.

The excitement grew as the inning unfolded.

After Carly Smith registered her eighth strikeout, Pentucket was down to its final out and trailed 6-4. They did, however, have two runners on and Kayla Murphy batting. Kayla had struck out twice but this time, down to her last strike, she found the gap in right-center and tied the game.

After an intentional walk to Meghan Hamel, it was Nikki Mitchell’s turn. Nikki had collected Pentucket’s first hit in fifth inning. Nikki, like Kayla, got two strikes on her before hitting a ball over the rightfielder’s head which easily scored Kayla with the game-winner.

The team immediately mobbed Kayla after she scored while Nikki stood at second base. “I was a little surprised by that,” laughed Nikki. Shortly thereafter, however, the team got it walkoff celebration corrected and descended on Nikki.

“Kayla and Nikki with two strikes on them got the job done for us,” said Coach Deb Smith.

“It was a tough loss,” said NDA coach Fred Smith. “At the end there were a couple of walks by us and a couple of big hits by them.”

“We were on the other end of a game like this against Whittier on Friday,” he added.

“We’ve been working so hard as a team,” said Coach Deb Smith. “Everyone did their job today. It was a total team effort.”

Lexi Martineau paced the Lancers with three of their five hits. She scored three runs and drove in two.

Lexi’s first hit drove in two runs in the 3-run NDA third inning.

Two walks, two hits, and two wild pitches gave the Lancers two more runs in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile NDA’s Carly Smith retired twelve straight batters before Pentucket put a hit batsman and two singles together to load the bases. Emma Lopata drove in Pentucket’s first run with a fielder’s choice.

NDA got the run back with a hit and three straight walks in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 6-1.

A key play in that NDA seventh inning was an attempt to steal home that turned into the final out of the inning. There had been three straight walks.

And that set the stage for Pentucket’s ten-batter, six-run, final inning.

The weather was unpleasant. You really have to dress for winter!

Notre Dame 0 0 3 0 2 0 1 = 6

Pentucket 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 = 7

(The pictures will enlarge.)