Category Archives: Amesbury

June 12, 2022 · 8:25 pm

#9 Abington starts fast and defeats #1 Amesbury 12-3 in D4 state quarterfinals

Abington reaches the Division 4 Final Four

(Amesbury) These tournament games can be tense.

Last inning.

Last batter.

Last pitch.

Not this one.

#9 Abington took over the game from the get-go and never let up.

#1 Amesbury was on the other end of things and lost 12-3 on Sunday afternoon in the Division 4 state quarterfinals.

“The well ran dry,” said Amesbury coach Joel Brierley afterwards. “When we’ve been going well, we’ve been able to set the tone early. Today was the complete opposite.”

Amesbury ace Drew MacDonald opened the first allowing two walks. Stephen Madden and Spencer Merrick followed immediately with RBI doubles. Before the first inning was over, AJ Nash added a sacrifice fly and the home team was down, 4-0.

Those early runs changed the whole complexion of the game.

“Getting the run support right away really got a weight lifted off,” said Abington’s complete-game winner Aidan O’Donnell post-game.

“We came out in the first inning and scored some runs and took the pressure right off,” said Abington coach Steve Perakslis afterwards.

Amesbury coach Joel Brierley and Abington coach Steve Perakslis

The relaxed Green Wave had runners on in every inning and collected ten hits.

Amesbury (18-5) did finish with seven hits, but they couldn’t package them into any multiple-run innings.

Amesbury’s hardest hit of the day was a long homer to left off the bat of St. Anselm’s commit Drew MacDonald in the second inning.

Aidan O’Donnell (UMass Dartmouth commit) had plenty of help from his defense. The Green Wave (18-5) turned three double plays. One was a standard 5-4-3 while the other two involved catches with Amesbury runners getting caught off first base afterwards.

Abington catcher Spencer Merrick also picked an Amesbury runner off first base.

You add good pitching to that kind of defense and the opponent is in for a long game.

“I tried to keep us in the game,” said pitcher Aidan O’Donnell. “I was just trying to get outs. I had full faith in the boys behind me.”

The Green Wave now moves on to the D4 state semi-finals against Manchester-Essex on Tuesday night (7PM) at Fraser Field in Lynn.

The Hornets won the state title in 2019.

Eight different players from the Green Wave scored runs, with leadoff batter Ryan Tobin doing it three times.

Stephen Madden and Spencer Merrick led Abington in RBI’s with three each.

Drew MacDonald and Will Arsenault paced Amesbury with two hits apiece. Drew also scored twice.

“We knew that we needed to play a good defensive game against a team like Amesbury,” said Coach Perakslis. “We always know that we’re going to be in the game when Aidan O’Donnell is pitching.”

“Our offense had been a little stagnant for a while,” he added, “but we’ve been taking good swings in practice and in our two previous games.”

Stephen Madden had three RBI, two hits, and scored a run

Drew MacDonald, Aiden Donovan, and Josh Sorgini pitched for Amesbury.

Abington had five doubles.

Besides the Drew MacDonald homer, Amesbury got RBI’s from Drew Scialdone and Will Arsenault.

Plenty of banter from both benches all game long. It made it feel like an indoor event.

“There’s no reason to hold our heads down,” said Coach Brierley. “Amesbury hasn’t had a season like this in a while. I’m very proud of what the kids have done.”

The weather was perfect and the crowd, including many from Abington, was good-sized.

Abington 4 0 2 2 3 1 0 = 12

Amesbury 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 = 3

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Filed under Abington, Amesbury

Tagged as Aidan O'Donnell, Coach Joel Brierley, Coach Steve Perakslis, Drew MacDonald, Spencer Merrick, Stephen Madden

June 10, 2022 · 10:46 pm

Amesbury gains D4 Final Four with 12-0 win over Easthampton

Fourteen strikeouts for Liv DeLong against Easthampton

(Amesbury) Amesbury is back in familiar territory, the Final Four.

The #2 seed in Division 4 defeated #10 Easthampton, 12-0, on Friday afternoon at Perry Field.

The Eagles (17-6) had pitching problems even before the game started as ace Rosemary Follet was unable to go because of tendonitis.

Normal third baseman Lauren Morse took on the pitching chores and had some success for a while.

“We were expecting a faster pitcher to say the least,” said 2B Cali Catarius afterwards. “We eventually adapted to it and got going in the sixth inning.”

Amesbury turned a 6-0 game into a 12-0 game with a six-run sixth inning.

Meanwhile, Amesbury’s pitcher (Liv DeLong) put together a fourteen-strikeout, three-hitter.

Liv had strikeouts in every inning.

None of the strikeouts was bigger than the one on Jessica Cloutier in the fourth inning.

In that fourth inning, after one out, the Eagles put two hits (Anastasia Growhoski, Lauren Morse) and a walk (McKenzie McCarthy) together to load the bases.

Jessica put a terrific at-bat together and got the count to 3-2 after numerous foul balls before striking out. Liv then struck out the next batter to end the threat.

McKenzie McCarthy had one of the Eagles’ three hits

“That was a big strikeout,” said AHS catcher Ella DeLisle afterwards. “That was a scary inning, but Liv pitched her way through it.”

Liv was quick to praise her catcher: “Her pitch calling was what made me successful today. She frames. She blocks. I don’t do any of the pitch calling.”

While the slower pitch-speed seemed to throw off some of the Amesbury hitters, sophomore Izzy Levasseur wasn’t one of them. She went three-for-three and drove in four runs with a sacrifice fly, a single, and two doubles.

“I hit the ball hard today,” recalled Izzy. “We all kind of pick each other up in hitting.”

Amesbury (22-1) had two in the first and one each in the second and third. They took a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning in which Liv DeLong escaped the bases-loaded jam.

“I thought the game was slow,” said Amesbury coach Jacquie Waters afterwards. “We’ve had days off along the way and now we need to have them focused so we’ll be going every day.”

Ella Bezanson and Izzy Levasseur scored five runs between them

The lack of a big inning against an inexperienced pitcher held until the Amesbury sixth inning. In the early innings the strong wind (toward first base) and the skills of the Easthampton outfielders had lessened the damage Amesbury did.

The sixth inning was a different story. Two infield errors, and two walks set things up for two-run doubles by Izzy Levasseur and her sister Olivia. Ella DeLisle singled in a run.

The six-run outburst put an end to any rally plans Easthampton may have entertained.

“It took us a while to get going,” said Ella DeLisle who had two hits and drove in a run.

Amesbury will play at home in the state semi-finals on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

“It feels good to be so successful,” said Liv afterwards. “We do put in a lot of practice time.”

Coach Waters has brought in some outside pitching to prepare her team for the expected good pitching that lies ahead.

It was extremely windy today, but the sun was shining.

The Easthampton roster, given out at the game, had two #15’s on it. My guessing needs refinement. I opted to use Shelby Clark to lead off and play shortstop. I discovered that the “real” #15 is Abigail McClaflin.

Easthampton had a win over Turners Falls in April. Yes, that’s the team that defeated Amesbury in the state finals last year. This year TF is in Division 5.

Easthampton entered the game having won eight-of-nine. Five of their six losses have been on the road.

Amesbury is now 13-0 at home and are averaging twelve runs per game. Their only loss was 3-2 to Methuen on May 29^th. They have only allowed an incredible EIGHT runs total all season.

Easthampton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0

Amesbury 2 1 1 0 2 6 – = 12

Alex Donnell scores the 9th Amesbury run

RF Jessie Cloutier makes a running catch

Cali Catarius avoids the tag of SS Abigail McClaflin

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Filed under Amesbury, Easthampton

Tagged as Coach Jacquie Waters, Ella Bezanson, Izzy Levasseur, Lauren Morse, Liv DeLong, Rosemary Follet

June 8, 2022 · 9:50 pm

Trevor Kimball pitches Amesbury past Blackstone Valley 7-1

Amesbury advances in the Division Four state tournament

Jake Harring scores Amesbury’s first run

(Amesbury) Two batters into the game, Amesbury had two hits and a run.

Nine batters into the game, Blackstone Valley Tech was still trying to get someone on base.

Amesbury ended up with nine hits in a 7-1 win over Blackstone Valley on Wednesday afternoon in the Division 4 Round of 16.

They will now face #9 Abington in a D4 Round of Eight game.

Trevor Kimball was the complete-game winner for #1 Amesbury. The junior lefty struck out eleven Beavers and gave up only two hits.

“I think it was my best performance all year,” said Trevor afterwards.

The combination of Trevor’s pitching and the team’s hitting made it difficult for #17 Blackstone Valley.

“It’s tough to overcome seven runs against pitching like that,” said BVT coach John Burke afterwards.

“My best pitch today was my breaking ball,” said Trevor. “I threw it as a secondary pitch for a lot of strikes. My fastball was moving good, and it was missing bats.”

The Amesbury batters gave Trevor runs to work with right from the start.

Jake Harring (3 hits) singled to open the Amesbury first and Shea Cucinotta tripled to the fence in right scoring Jake.

Coach Joel Brierley and Coach John Burke

In the second inning Cam Stanley reached on an error and took second on a messed-up pickoff attempt. Another Jake Harring single delivered Cam.

Amesbury sent up nine batters in the third inning and added four more runs. Trevor Kimball, Will Arsenault, and Jake Harring (2) had RBI for Amesbury.

After three innings, Amesbury led 6-0 and Trevor had yet to give up a hit.

Tade Riordan put an end to the no-hitter with a long double to left leading off the fourth inning. Tade reached third on a wild pitch and scored on Corey Magill’s sacrifice fly.

Tade Riordan scores for Blackstone Valley Tech

Nick Laflamme also had a hit in that inning.

The last three innings the Beavers were held hitless and only one batter reached base.

Trevor had six strikeouts over the final three innings including the last four batters he faced.

“Trevor pitched the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch,” said teammate Drew Scialdone post-game. “When you’re going like he was you’re going to win games.”

Aiden Donovan scored Amesbury’s seventh run on a Cam Stanley sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

“We came out swinging today and Jake and Shea set the tone for the rest of the game,” said Coach Brierley afterwards.

Jake Harring led Amesbury with three hits and three RBI.

“We had a good crowd, and we were able to string hits together,” explained Jake. “I like to sit on fastballs early in the count. If they give it to me, I try to pepper it to any part of the field.”

Aiden Donovan and Cam Stanley both scored twice for Amesbury.

“My arm is a little sore and I’ve got a headache,” said Trevor afterwards. “It’s hot but we got the win and that’s what counts.”

“We’ve got to take it one game of a time,” said Drew Scialdone. “We’re playing our best baseball at the right time.”

Blackstone Valley is located in Upton and play in the Colonial League.

Blackstone Valley 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 = 1

Amesbury 1 1 4 0 1 0 – = 7

Shea Cucinotta drove across the first Amesbury run

Drew Scialdone tripled during Amesbury’s four-run third inning

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Tagged as Drew Scialdone, Jake Harring, Tade Riordan, Trevor Kimball

May 29, 2022 · 8:26 pm

Amesbury wins Spofford Tourney 6-2 over Georgetown

Amesbury wins the 2022 Spofford Tournament

(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.

Georgetown scored two runs 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.”

Trevor Kimball scored the third Amesbury run in the first inning

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.

Drew Scialdone hit a two-run homer in the 5th inning

“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

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Filed under Amesbury, Georgetown

Tagged as Aiden Donovan, Drew Scialdone, Jack Lucido, Shea Cucinotta

May 28, 2022 · 7:25 pm

Drew MacDonald leads Amesbury past Triton 5-1

(Georgetown) If this isn’t his best game it’s got to be awfully close to it.

Impressive performance by Drew MacDonald leading Amesbury past Triton, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon in the rain-shortened opening round of the Spofford Tournament.

The Amesbury senior drove in three of his team’s five runs and pitched a five-inning, no-hitter.

Amesbury (15-4) faces Georgetown in the title game tomorrow afternoon (2PM).

The Vikings (11-8) took a one-run lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. Cole Daniels reached on an infield error and scored after a wild pitch, a stolen base, and another wild pitch.

Cole Daniels scores the Triton run on a wild pitch

Triton’s DJ Watson had limited Amesbury to two hits going into the fourth inning.

However, in the fourth inning a single (Drew Scialdone) and a double (Trevor Kimball) set Drew MacDonald up for a two-run single to give Amesbury the, 2-1, lead.

Unfortunate decisions cost Triton in the fifth inning. On two occasions, batters reached on infield grounders when plays at other bases backfired.

Shea Cucinotta’s single in that inning drove across Luke Arsenault and Jake Harring. Later, an infield grounder by Drew MacDonald scored Drew Scialdone with Amesbury’s fifth run.

And then the incoming dark clouds, with accompanying thunder, put a pause to the game. The game never resumed and Amesbury had itself a 5-1 win.

And Drew had himself a no-hitter.

Drew ended up walking two and striking out six.

The defensive gem on this afternoon belonged to Triton centerfielder Cole Daniels. Leadoff batter Jake Harring looked to have hit a ball into the left/centerfield gap, but Cole ran it down and dove to finish a terrific play.

Drew Scialdone and Drew MacDonald led Amesbury’s seven-hit attack with two hits each.

The twosome also had a “hit” in the first inning as they collided going after a popup in the first inning.

Shea Cucinotta tagged out by Triton 2B Connor Rumph

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Tagged as Cole Daniels, Drew MacDonald, Drew Scialdone, Shea Cucinotta

May 24, 2022 · 9:39 pm

Amesbury seniors lead to 13-4 win over Hamilton-Wenham

(Amesbury) It’s your day, why not put on a show!

Drew MacDonald, Shea Cucinotta, Cam Stanley

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.

Cam Stanley – scored 3 runs and had 2 hits

“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.

Trevor Kimball gave up four hits and four runs.

Amesbury coach Joel Brierley busy coaching third

Luke Arsenault scores Amesbury’s fifth run

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Filed under Amesbury, Hamilton-Wenham

Tagged as Cam Stanley, Coach Joel Brierley, Coach Reggie Maidment, Connor McClintock, Drew MacDonald, Shea Cucinotta, Trevor Kimball

May 17, 2022 · 9:36 pm

7-6 walkoff win for Amesbury vs Ipswich

(Amesbury) Amesbury may not have played well…..but they played well enough.

Amesbury (12-4) got a walkoff, 7-6 win against Ipswich on Tuesday afternoon.

Jake Harring delivered the walkoff hit.

“It felt good,” he said, “but I’m not sure we should have celebrated that hard. We’ve got to be better.”

Unofficially, Amesbury had more errors (eight) than they had runs. Outfield drops, infield bobbles, you name it, it was happening this afternoon.

“It was an ugly baseball game,” said Amesbury coach Joel Brierley afterwards. “Someone had to win, and it happened to be us.”

Luke Arsenault homered in the second inning for Amesbury

It was just another tough loss in a season of tough losses for Ipswich (3-11).

“Today is the third game we’ve had the lead going into the seventh inning and lost in a walkoff,” said Ipswich coach Zack Lamkin afterwards.

The Tigers had seven hits and stranded ten baserunners.

Matt McGowan ended up with three hits and drove in two runs for Ipswich.

Trevor Kimball was the hard-luck starter for Amesbury. The AHS junior went five innings, allowing six hits and five runs (all unearned).

Amesbury, despite its defensive misadventures, put single runs on the board in each of the first four innings.

A Luke Arsenault homer to left accounted for the Amesbury run in the second inning.

Ipswich carried a 5-4 lead after five innings.

Things turned for Amesbury in the Ipswich sixth inning when centerfielder Drew MacDonald made a good catch and then a very good running catch. Those catches kept the Tigers from enlarging their one-run lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Drew whacked a double to rightfield that drove in two runs and put Amesbury in front, 6-5.

Credit Ipswich for recovering.

Drew Lane walked leading off the seventh. Josiah Scarano pinch-ran and was bunted to second by AJ Pezza. Matt McGowan delivered the tying run with a single.

Amesbury came into this game averaging seven runs per game. They only had six going into their half of the seventh inning.

Luke Arsenault doubled down the leftfield line with one out to lead off the seventh. He was moved to third by a Tyler Bartniski sacrifice bunt. That set Jake Harring up for the game-winning hit.

“It was off the end a little bit,” said Jake of the game-winner. “I didn’t think it would go over his (rightfielder) head, until I saw his back turned.”

“For the most part we controlled this game,” said Coach Lamkin afterwards. “We battled today. It’s just a matter of finishing.”

Amesbury is currently #1 in the Division 4 MIAA power rankings. Staying there will eliminate any early-round bus rides in the post-season. Playing on the Amesbury High School field does have its drawbacks, however.

“This field is tough to figure out,” said Coach Brierley. “You would think that we would have an advantage since we practice here but not necessarily. Shea (Cucinotta) is a D2 shortstop and he still doesn’t know how to play this field.”

“That being said,” he added, “we still have to make the routine plays if we want to go far in the tournament.”

Cade Wetter scored two runs for Ipswich while Evan Stein had two hits.

Jake Harring, Drew Scialdone, Drew MacDonald, and Luke Arsenault each had two hits for Amesbury.

Drew Scialdone pitched two innings and picked up the W for Amesbury.

The weather was perfect.

Ipswich 0 1 3 0 1 0 1 = 6

Amesbury 1 1 1 1 0 2 1 = 7

(The pictures will enlarge.)

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Tagged as Drew MacDonald, Drew Scialdone, Jake Harring, Luke Arsenault, Matt McGowan, Trevor Kimball

May 11, 2022 · 10:08 pm

Amesbury routs Pentucket 21-0

Alana DeLisle had four hits and struck out twelve

(Amesbury) The numbers are mind boggling!

Amesbury (12-0) has now scored 158 runs and given up 3 runs.

This afternoon they mercy-ruled Pentucket, 21-0.

Pentucket, which is now 6-7, had been in every game until today.

“They are obviously an unbelievable team,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith afterwards. “They hit 1-9. We’re never going to face a team like this again.”

Today was Senior Day for Amesbury’s four seniors: Liv DeLong, Alana DeLisle, Olivia Levasseur, and Ella Bezanson.

“I started watching them when they were eighth graders on our freshman team,” recalled Amesbury coach Jacqui Waters. “They are all great players.”

There will be next-level softball for all four of them. Liv will be at Boston University while the other three are headed for Southern Maine.

“We’ve been together since third grade,” said Liv. “Senior Day is a bit sad but we’re all going on to play some more. We’ll leave behind a lot of memories, though.”

In this game, all the Amesbury players had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Eight players in the lineup had RBI.

“We hit the ball hard,” said Coach Waters.

Amesbury sent eleven batters to the plate in the first inning and collected six runs on seven hits.

Amesbury’s most productive inning was the third in which fifteen batters came up and totaled nine runs on ten hits.

“We were hitting the gaps today,” said Ella Bezanson. There were nine extra-base hits.

The most celebrated hit for Amesbury was in the fourth inning when Olivia Levasseur cleared the fence in left.

“It’s exciting running the bases and seeing the crowd at home plate,” said Olivia. “It was like a dream come true.”

“I knew it was gone because I hit it a certain way,” she added. This was Olivia’s second home run of the season.

Easily lost in all the hitting, was the effective pitching of Alana DeLisle.

The game was over after Pentucket batted in the fifth inning but Alana had enough time to record twelve strikeouts.

“I threw some curves today,” said Alana. “I did what Ella (her sister, the catcher) told me to do.” Alana also made a nice diving catch of a short popup between the mound and home plate.

Pentucket did get two hits off Alana. Nikki Mitchell lined a single to center in the first inning while teammate Meg Hamel singled sharply to left in the fourth inning.

Ella Bezanson paced Amesbury scoring four times. Alana DeLisle led Amesbury with four hits (three doubles and a single). Olivia Levasseur was tops in RBI with five.

“We’re moving on,” said Coach Smith. “We’ll put this game behind us.”

A food truck was available as part of the post-game Senior Day festivities. I’ll admit I was tempted.

I was badly fooled by the weather. I have had straight days requiring multi-layers. Today it was sunny with no wind. It felt good!

Pentucket 0 0 0 0 0 = 0

Amesbury 6 2 9 4 – = 21

(The pictures will enlarge.)

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Tagged as Alana Delisle, Ella Bezanson, Liv DeLong

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

April 30, 2022 · 8:03 pm

Amesbury’s 12-run fifth sinks Concord-Carlisle 13-1

Amesbury started making solid contact in the fifth inning

(Amesbury) Neither team had a hit through four innings.

Amesbury did have a run, however, as Ella Bezanson had walked, stolen second, and come home in the 4^th inning after two wild pitches.

No doubt that Concord-Carlisle’s Madi Gambino and Amesbury’s Liv DeLong were in charge.

But everything changed in the fifth inning. In fact, the game ended before the fifth inning ended!

In the top of the fifth, the Patriots (2-4) got their first hit (Brooke Boyle) and it drove in Phoebe Rodgers who had walked and advanced to third on an infield error.

That tied the score at 1-1 and now it was Amesbury’s turn to bat in the fifth.

And did they ever bat….and score. Eight hits and twelve runs before the mercy rule kicked in.

13-1 was the final.

“My team was competing for a while,” said CC coach Lisa McGloin afterwards. “Give credits to Amesbury. They made adjustments at the plate, and they hit the ball hard.”

Not only hard but far. There were six extra-base hits among the fourteen players who batted for (9-0) Amesbury in their explosive fifth.

Alana DeLisle, Olivia Levasseur, Cali Catarius, and Lexi LeBlanc each scored twice during the inning. The second time Lexi scored ended the game.

Olivia Levasseur had two triples in the inning and drove in three runs.

Maybe the events of last night played a part in the way this game unfolded? Concord-Carlisle played a game under the lights while the Amesbury girls had their prom.

“We had the prom last night,” said Coach Waters, “which is always a killer. They were all out late which was why the game was moved to a 2PM start.”

“The prom wasn’t a problem,” countered rightfielder Lauren Celia. “They were a good team.”

Madi Gambino impressed through four innings. She had solid support behind her. RF Lana Bardzik robbed Ella Bezanson of extra bases in the first inning with a running catch. Shortstop Nicole Cela got in front of Olivia Levasseur’s line-drive laser in the second inning.

In the Amesbury fifth, their hard hits found space while the Patriots’ defense allowed extra at-bats.

The nightmare inning (for CC) started with a fly ball that two outfielders went after. They got tangled up and Amesbury had its first hit. The home team went on to get seven more hits to gain the win.

The mercy ending kept Liv DeLong from pitching any longer. She did finish with eleven strikeouts and gave up just one hit in the five innings.

“They were definitely up there to hit,” recalled Liv. “The strike zone was a little tight and I wasn’t getting much on the outside. So, we worked inside. I can’t, however, be afraid to throw outside.”

Amesbury faced Concord-Carlisle a week ago, in a game that went the full seven innings, winning 11-0. Alana DeLisle pitched and had thirteen strikeouts.

“Our team today was resilient enough to know that we had to pick it up,” said Coach Waters.

“There are always a lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda’s but you can’t live in that world,” said Coach McGloin.

When the first Amesbury batter was robbed by a nice running catch in the outfield, I had an immediate flashback to last year’s title game against Turners Falls. TF had three remarkable outfield catches in that 5-4 heartbreaker.

“Every close game we have at the start, I think ‘Turners Falls,’ said Liv DeLong. “But we’ve learned from that experience. It just took us a while to get going today.”

Concord Carlisle’s run today was only the second run scored against Amesbury through nine games. Peabody had the first one on April 4^th in the season opener. Meanwhile, Amesbury has scored 112 runs over the same period. We’re talking special team!

It was cold (50’s) and a little breezy at the start but the wind died down to make things more pleasant.

(The pictures will enlarge.)