McClelland Miscellanea

September 4, 2013 · 11:55 pm

Bridgton Academy gets by Southern Maine CC 4-2 in soccer opener

Connor Reagan (2 goals) eludes defender Zach Napsey in the first half

Sam Anderson battles Jacob Smith

(North Bridgton ME) A strong first half sent Bridgton Academy past Southern Maine Community College, 4-2, on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon.

BA built up a three-goal lead in the first half but SMCC (1-1) rallied to get within two goals on a successful penalty kick seven minutes into the second half. A gift goal by Eric Miller restored the 3-goal advantage for Bridgton with 14 ½ minutes left.

The home-team Wolverines (1-0) put plenty of pressure on the visiting Seawolves in the first half. Former Gorham HS star Connor Reagan (two goals) was the player who gave SMCC the most trouble.

Connor had BA’s first two goals. On both of them he was on the weak-side away from action. On his first score he cashed a cross from Sam Anderson with a header (38:57) that SMCC goalie (Josh McDuffie) had no chance on. On the second goal, a shot from one side was mishandled in front by Zach Napsey and Connor was there to drive home the loose ball.

Pat Gass scored the third BA goal

Pat Gass (13:15) broke in from the left on a pass from Nico Kaiafas and BA had a 3-0 lead at halftime.

SMCC played a much better second half. They had won their opener, 2-1, in overtime at Dean College in Franklin MA on August 31st.

Kyle Stiefken (two goals) put the Seawolves on the board early in the second half. Nicholas Oram was tripped and SMCC was awarded a penalty kick. Kyle beat BA goalkeeper Colin Ford to his left.

Nicholas Oram hit the BA crossbar five minutes later.

This game got out of reach for SMCC at 14:31. A shot came in from GK Dan Couverette’s left. He decided to kick it instead of catching it but missed the kick entirely and the ball slide over to onrushing Eric Miller. Eric had the entire net to shoot at and delivered the 4th BA score.

Kyle Stiefken scored two second-half goals for SMCC

Four minutes later SMCC had a second tally as Kyle Stiefken avoided two defenders on the left to get a clean look and a resulting goal.

SMCC would score an apparent goal (Colin Lush) in the final seconds but an offsides nullified it.

Bridgton Academy’s next game is Saturday at Dean College in Franklin MA.

SMCC will play at Hampshire College on the same day.

BA will play eight games in a row on the road before getting a home game on September 27th.

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

shot at my camera

Zach Napsey set to clear

Nick Nugent

GK Josh McDuffie leaps to save

Dmitri Roumeliotis set to corner kick

Colin Lush (20) heads home a goal in the final seconds that was disallowed.

Nico Kaiafas gets a great setup from Connor Reagan

Eric Miller gets a wide open shot for 4th BA goal

Dan Couverette gets control

Connor Reagan

loose ball

Layne Kearney-Graffam chases Nico Kaiafas

Pat Gass congratulated by Brian Wheeler

SMCC goalie Josh McDuffie

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Filed under Bridgton Academy, Southern Maine Community College

Tagged as Colin Lush, Connor Reagan, Eric Miller, Kyle Stiefken, Nico Kaiafas, Pat Gass, Sam Anderson

September 1, 2013 · 7:49 pm

Henry Owens and Gary Sanchez spotted at Field of Dreams game in Portland

The 1926 Portland Eskimos move out onto Hadlock Field

Portland Eskimos applaud Hadlock fans

(Portland ME) Quite the pregame show!

Set up close to the wall in centerfield was a cornfield arranged in the, “Field of Dreams,” mode.

The sellout crowd was addressed and thanked for twenty years of baseball following at Hadlock Field.

Then suddenly players appeared on our side of the cornfield. They came out wearing 1926 Portland Eskimos uniforms and looked around in wonder at Hadlock Field.

The players then strolled in toward the foul lines getting a thunderous, standing ovation from the delighted crowd.

The players then applauded the fans and went up into the stands to greet as many in the crowd as they could get to.

Media boss Chris Cameron in the middle

It was terrific stuff. Media boss Chris Cameron had told me, on a previous visit, that it was his favorite promotion of the summer. Now I knew why. Fan involvement in most minor league games is quite subdued but this show had everyone stirred up.

Then there was the game that you thought this write-up was about!

Portland lost the game, 9-4, on a cloudy/rainy/sunny Sunday afternoon. The rain hit just at game time but fortunately was soon gone. It turned out to be a delightful day for a game.

Going into Friday, the Portland Sea Dogs had a chance to get to second and make the Eastern League (AA) playoffs. “All” they had to do was finish the regular season with five straight wins over second-place Trenton.

They got past Friday but not Saturday. The home team dropped both ends of last night’s double-header and the first loss sealed the doom of the Sea Dogs. That result made this game irrelevant in the overall scheme of things.

But there were prospects to be seen. My main reason for doing this game was to get Sea Dog pitcher Henry Owens. The 20-year-old was the starter today. I was also hoping to get a look at shortstop Deven Marrero in the field. Missions accomplished!

Henry Owens

Deven Marrero

The Trenton Yankees have their top three prospects (Gary Sanchez, Mason Williams, and Tyler Austin) on their roster. Mason, however, was injured Saturday night so he was unavailable. I flat out messed up on Tyler. I think that the Trenton online roster had him with a different number. But I did really well with Gary Sanchez. He cooperated for a nice shot in the Trenton dugout.

Gary Sanchez

Gary is a 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic who signed a $3 million contract with the Yankees as a 16-year-old. He has the size (6-2/220 pounds) to catch and plenty of power. The eerie thing about Gary is that on first glance he looks like Alex Rodriguez!

Speaking of catchers, Portland’s Christian Vazquez was called up to AAA Pawtucket today. Christian had been cited for his defense in the past. This year his hitting improved tremendously.

Many of us were on hand to see Henry Owens. What most of us didn’t expect was for him to get taken deep twice (Ramon Flores and Gary Sanchez) in the first inning. The tall lefty ended up going 5 2/3 innings giving up six hits, 3 runs, and had eight strikeouts. He should be a good one. I suspect that he’ll at least start at Portland next season. I doubt that he’ll stay there too long.

Nik Turley takes care of his arm

Lefty Nik Turley started for Trenton and got the win. He went five innings and left leading 3-2. Nik is not related to former Yankee ace Bob Turley although Bob did call Nik’s father after the 2008 draft to welcome Nik to the Yankees.

A 3-2 game got away from the Sea Dogs in the 8th inning when the Thunder put up a five-spot on reliever Miguel Celestino.

Trenton, which hosts Binghamton in the EL playoffs on Wednesday, had thirteen hits against Portland. Ben Gamel led the way with three hits including a home run. Ramon Flores (Yankees #16 prospect) had two hits including a homer. Reegie Corono had a home run as well.

Portland had eleven hits. Garin Cecchini, Travis Shaw, and Deven Marrero each had two of them.

Slugger falls losing yet again

Another embarrassing effort by Slugger. He raced against a 4-year-old (?) from Oxford today. The youngster headed for rightfield after first but it didn’t matter. Slugger should have built up a big lead with the confusion but instead fell flat near second. Slugger recovered but just when he had a great chance for the win went down again just short of home. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s really trying.

Again thanks to media relations director Chris Cameron for setting up my visit.

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

Christian Vazquez was called up to AAA Pawtucket

Matt Spring and Henry Owens

Gary Sanchez signs

catching a pop

Henry Owens

Gary Sanchez

Garin Cecchini gets third as Casey Stevenson awaits throw

Ramon Flores

Gary Sanchez in home run trot

Ramon Flores congratulated after homer

Henry Owens

Reegie Corona and Gary Sanchez both hit homers

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Filed under Portland Sea Dogs, Trenton Thunder

Tagged as Garin Cecchini, Gary Sanchez, Henry Owens, Nik Turley, Portland Sea Dogs, Ramon Flores, Trenton Thunder

August 21, 2013 · 6:58 pm

Mickey Pena debuts in 4-2 Portland Sea Dogs win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Peter Hissey hustles to beat the throw to first enabling the Portland Sea Dogs to score their first run.

Derrik Gibson hustles to beat the throw to first enabling the Portland Sea Dogs to score their first run.

Christian Vazquez had three hits and drove in the 4th Portland run

(Portland) They fought like cats and dogs.

I’m sorry, I just had to use that. Why? Because it was true.

Tight game this afternoon with the Portland Sea Dogs getting three runs in the eighth inning on their way to a 4-2 win over the visiting New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The Wednesday noon start brought out over six thousand fans and they saw the home team win an important game. The Sea Dogs are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League.

The top two teams will make the playoffs. Binghamton will get first but the race for second place is tightening up. Second place Trenton (Yankee farm team) leads Portland by 4 ½ games with 13 games left. However, by the luck of the schedule, the two teams will meet a remarkable nine times the rest of the way including the last five at Hadlock Field. The opportunity to move up in the standings is certainly there for the taking for the Sea Dogs.

Many of today’s attendees were disappointed to learn yesterday that phenom Henry Owens would not be pitching in today’s game. Henry has pitched once at Hadlock and that was after a two-hour rain delay. Let’s just say that not too many have seen him pitch in person at the AA level in Portland.

Mickey Pena made his AA debut pitching seven shutout innings

Mickey Pena got the start today for Portland and the lefty looked very good. There was no indication that this was his AA debut. He has been with Salem (A) this season. Mickey went seven innings giving up only five hits and no runs.

Marcus Walden of the Fisher Cats was just as effective as Mickey was. Marcus came in with the deceiving 6-12 record but he had won four games against Portland with a very impressive 1.56 ERA.

The Sea Dogs scratched out a run in the 4th inning. Christian Vazquez (three hits/1 run/1 rbi) scored from third as Derrik Gibson’s hustle prevented an inning ending double play.

That 1-0 looked safe after reliever Jeremy Kehrt retired the first two batters in the eighth inning but then the wheels came off. Jeremy gave up six hits to the next nine batters he faced. He did manage to escape with only one run given up in the eighth but the score was now tied.

Michael Almanzar had a two-out, two-run triple in the eighth inning.

A hit batsman and a walk surrounded two outs for Portland in their half of the eighth. Out went Marcus Walden and in came Evan Crawford. That switch did not go well! Michael Almanzar tripled to right bringing both runners home. That was the 24th run this season that Michael has delivered with two outs. Christian Vazquez followed with a single and Portland had a 4-1 lead.

In the ninth Jeremy Kehrt continued to struggle. He gave up a run (now 4-2) and he left with two outs and the bases loaded. Noe Ramirez came on to save the game getting Andy Burns to pop to shortstop Derrik Gibson along the left-field line.

I will have to admit that I was a bit disappointed not to see Henry Owens in action. However, maybe I’ll look back in a few years and say I saw Mickey Pena debut in AA ball. He could be a good one.

Deven Marrero

With Henry out of the mix, I was left to get recently called up Deven Marrero. Would you believe that he wasn’t playing either!

I did, however, get some shots of Deven before and during the game……but not any action shots.

Minor league baseball is a great take for the family. There certainly is plenty of entertainment for everyone. I did notice the there were few buses in front of Hadlock so obviously camps are over and the resumption of school is at hand.

I continue to be disappointed with the Sea Dog mascot Sluggo. How many times can he lose to opponents ¼ his size? He always gets a bad start and usually falls down, which gives him no chance. I wonder if he’s heard of the Washington Generals??

Sluggo loses to another youngster

Thanks to Portland Sea Dogs media director Chris Cameron for arranging my visit. I may try to get back to Hadlock during their five-game series with Trenton that ends the season. There is a big if. Henry Owens has to be pitching. I would like to think that in a five-game series, that might mean something, the 20-year-old would get a start.

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

Rich Gedman

Deven Marrero

pre-game chat

Deven Marrero

JC Linares and Michael Almanzar

loose ball

Derrik Gibson

Christian Vazquez gets high five from Shannon Wilkerson after scoring first run

sea of green

Marcus Walden

Kenny Wilson takes second

sliding results

Ryan Schimpf

Mickey Pena throws to first

Kevin Heller

Ryan Dent steals second – he had two steals in the game.

Garin Cecchini

Gary Allenson and Garin Cecchini

Mickey Pena

Deck McGuire

Richie Hebner signs

Travis Shaw

Garin Cecchini

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Filed under New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs

Tagged as Christian Vazquez, Deven Marrero, Garin Cecchini, Marcus Walden, Michael Almanzar, Mickey Pena, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Sluggo

August 16, 2013 · 5:56 pm

My trumpet vine is blooming

The first trumpet blooms (on the right) many years after the trumpet vine was planted.

(North Bridgton ME) Today (August 16, 2013) was a remarkable day. Why? Our trumpet vine in North Bridgton produced its first yellow trumpet.

I wish I could tell you how long that trumpet vine has been in our backyard. It could have been ten years with never a flower.

During the bloomless years the plant suffered a full dose of verbal abuse. It’s existence has been threatened on an annual basis. Lucky for my TV (trumpet vine), it is located in a garden I set up called, The Cook’s Garden, and its future was in my hands.

As the years went by it was become harder and harder to convince myself that my trumpet vine would ever bloom. I knew from gardening articles that the trumpet vine was finicky about when it bloomed. I just decided to hang in there with it and hope for the best.

My TV had more leafy growth than usual in 2012, so I decided in the fall to set up some support for it to hang on. I put a trellis in place supported by birdfeeder poles. I didn’t add anything to the soil or prune it at all.

That support seemed to make the difference. The leafy growth was noticeable this summer but the lack of blooms went on as usual. We had flowers all over the yard that had bloomed and some of them were still blooming as we moved into August. But the TV continued with its “leafy” look and I thought another year was about to roll by without flowers.

Then last week, while I was in the TV’s area deadheading lilies, I saw a bud on the trumpet vine. I couldn’t believe it!

I watched that bud carefully for several days as it became closer and closer to being a flower. In my daily watching, I noticed that the plant had several other buds.

Well, the big day finally came, today. My wife was the first to notice that the bud had opened and the first trumpet had appeared.

My advice to those of you who have a bloomless trumpet vine is not to be discouraged. It will take it’s time blooming. It could be years. But if there is an increase of leaves each year, there will sooner or later be trumpets blooming.

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Filed under trumpet vine

Tagged as getting a trumpet vine to bloom, trumpet vine

August 11, 2013 · 9:29 pm

Rowley evens ITL finals with 6-5 win over Manchester-Essex

Drew Carter crosses home with the eventual game-winner in the sixth inning

Rams coach Jeff Wood congratulates closer Joe Martin after the final out

(Rowley) The Rowley Rams evened their Intertown Twilight League final series with Manchester-Essex, 6-5, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Eiras Field.

The ME Mariners won the opener of the championship series in Essex, 3-2, thanks to a seventh-inning walkoff run on Saturday afternoon. Caulin Rogers’ single drove across the game winner.

In Game 2, the Mariners battled back from a three-run deficit and went up 5-4 in the fifth inning. But the #2 seed Rams tied the score in the bottom of the 5th and tallied the unearned game-winner in the sixth.

The best-of-five series resumes on Wednesday evening in Essex.

Third baseman Alex Ray chases a deflected ball as Drew Carter approaches third base.

No one person ever loses a team game. However, I’m not sure Mariners third baseman Alex Ray was buying that after his two-out boot enabled the Rams to push across their sixth run. CJ Ingraham’s grounder to Alex deflected off his glove and down the third baseline. Rowley’s Drew Carter, who had singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on Marco Luisi’s fielder’s choice, was on the move with two outs. If Alex cleanly fielded the grounder he had an easy, final-out, force out at third but the error occurred and Drew’s hustle allowed him to beat the throw home with the eventual game winner.

Joe White went the first four innings for Rowley. Adam Newell (winning pitcher) covered the fifth and sixth while Joe Martin earned the save with a hitless seventh.

Nate Bertolino slides in with the fifth ME run

Anyone at Eiras Field will tell you that the seventh had its moment of drama as Mariners’ second batter Brett Cahill hit a long out to right that was close to home-run distance. In an earlier at-bat the ME catcher had doubled off the rightfield fence. There was a bit of an incoming breeze in the seventh inning and instead of tying the game, a putout was recorded by Rams rightfielder Justin Bolla.

Manchester-Essex scored first (in the first) as Rory Gentile led off with a double to the leftfield corner, stole third, and came home on Caulin Rogers sacrifice fly.

The Rams (15-6-2 during the regular season) put up four runs in the second inning. Rowley turned a first-and-third situation into an unearned run. Catcher Brett Cahill’s throw to second (trying to get Cam D’Agostino) was low and Justin Bolla scored from third. An RBI double by Drew Carter and RBI singles by Mike White and CJ Ingraham delivered the other three runs for the home team.

ME (19-4-1 during the regular season) erased the 4-1 deficit in the fourth inning. Adrian Frattini doubled in two runs before an error by Rowley third baseman Koby Thibault (he threw wild to home) produced the tying run.

The Mariners (defending ITL champs) went in front in the fifth. Nate Bertolino reached third after a walk, steal, and fielder’s choice and scored on Mike Cain’s fly-out to center.

Down a run (5-4) in the fifth, it was Rowley’s turn to rally. A couple of two-strike hits (CJ Ingraham and Dmitri Hunt) did the damage. CJ led off with a single and stole second before Dmitri’s RBI single.

Cam DAgostino

If Brett Cahill’s fly to right in the 7th was the longest out, Cam D’Agostino’s rope to center in the Rowley fifth was the hardest hit for an out in the game. Cam’s laser to center was right at CF Rory Gentile and he made the catch for the final out.

In the sixth, Rowley got the unearned game-winner and the series now becomes best two-out-of-three.

Ryan Marques went 5 2/3 innings allowing four earned runs for Manchester-Essex. Adam Philpott recorded the final out in the sixth inning.

Ian Buckley and Adrian Frattini paced ME with two hits apiece. CJ Ingraham, Cam D’Agostino, and Drew Carter did the same for Rowley.

Rowley had runners on second and third in the fourth inning but Ryan Marques retired Mike White, Nick Liguori, and Joe Esposito to escape damage.

The Mariners stole five bases while Rowley stole two.

The biggest outburst against an umpire was in the ME sixth when a very close play at first ended the inning without the runner from third scoring.

Drew Carter – 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 rbi

The last time I saw Drew Carter play (June 18, 2011) was at Fraser Field in Lynn at the D3 state title game that Newburyport won over Pioneer Valley. Drew made a huge defensive play at third in that one.

The last time I saw Rowley play was at Eiras Field two years ago when they defeated Rockport, 5-2, to win their first (?) ITL title.

The last time I saw Adrian Frattini he pitched Manchester-Essex past Newburyport to end the Clippers 18-game winning streak early in the 2012 season.

Rowley boxscore

Manchester-Essex boxscore

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

CJ Ingraham steals second

CJ Ingraham heads home as centerfielder Rory Gentile prepares to throw

Dmitri Hunt reaches third

ME starter Ryan Marques

Caulin Rogers begins slide to third

low throw to second

Nick Liquori

Rory Gentile

trouble at second

Ian Buckley beats pitcher Joe White to first

Alex Ray makes a nice play

Ian Buckley steals

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Filed under Manchester-Essex, Rowley

Tagged as Adam Newell, Alex Ray, Brett Cahill, Cam D'Agostino, Caulin Rogers, CJ Ingraham, Dmitri Hunt, Drew Carter, Ian Buckley, Joe Martin, Joe White, Nate Bertolino, Ryan Marques

August 8, 2013 · 8:56 pm

Major league prospects Garin Cecchini and Joe Panik perform at AA Portland

Garin Cecchini

Joe Panik

(Portland) Joe Panik drove in four runs as the Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Portland Sea Dogs, 4-1, on a muggy Thursday afternoon at Hadlock Field.

The Eastern League game featured two teams trying to get to second place and thereby make the EL playoffs. After today’s game, Richmond is four games out of second in the EL West while Portland is 3 ½ games out of second in the EL East. The regular season ends on September 2nd.

Olympian Julia Clukey

2010 Winter Olympian Julia Clukey of Augusta (Maine) addressed the large crowd of campers before the game and later tossed out the ceremonial first pitch. Julia hopes to compete in 2014 Winter Olympics in the luge in six months in Sochi, Russia.

My goal at the games I attend is to get faces to go with the names of the players performing. I am intent on getting prospects because the trip from the AA Portland team to AAA Pawtucket and then the Red Sox can happen fast. In this season alone, fifteen players from Portland have moved up to a higher level.

Pitchers are the most difficult to get pictures of unless they’re actually pitching in the game. I missed Anthony Ranaudo (he’s now at Pawtucket) and am hoping to get pictures of Matt Barnes and/or Henry Owens before the season is over.

Garin Cecchini makes a throw to first.

The player I wanted to make sure I had photos of was Garin Cecchini. This 22-year-old third baseman moved up from Salem (A) recently and has played well so far at Portland. Garin had three walks in this game. My hunch is that if Xander Bogaerts gets called up from Pawtucket to the Red Sox then Garin will move up to Pawtucket.

Joe Panik talks to third-base coach Ross Grimsley

I thought that the most promising prospect on the visiting Richmond team was 22-year-old Joe Panik. Joe was drafted in the first round in 2011 (29th pick) by San Francisco. Joe is a middle infielder with some power. His 3-run homer in this game was hit very deep to right center.

There were some excellent defensive plays today. Flying Squirrel centerfielder Ryan Lollis took in a long shot just before running into the fence.

There was plenty of entertainment on the field between innings. The Sea Dog mascot’s losing streak, running the bases against young fans, continues.

After several innings of picture taking from the ends of both dugouts I went up to the press box to thank Media Relations director Chris Cameron for making my visit possible. While I was sitting up there chatting with Chris, I realized that Dwight Evans was to my right. Some retired players put on weight and/or lose some hair but not Dwight. He is apparently a roving instructor for the Red Sox.

mascots

I continue to recommend taking in a game at Hadlock Field. It certainly is affordable and entertaining for everyone. The Red Sox have some terrific young players.

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

Javier Herrera

Derrik Gibson

Travis Shaw

girls won a poetry contest

Garin Cecchini comes to work

catcher Christian Vazquez

Mark Minicozzi – leading hitter in the EL

Garin Cecchini heads for second

Heiker Meneses

play at third

Joe Panik

Ryan Lollis

Richmond starter (and winning pitcher) Craig Westcott

Sea Dogs starter Terry Doyle

Richmond manager Dave Machemer

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Filed under Portland Sea Dogs, Richmond Flying Squirrels

Tagged as Christian Vazquez, Craig Westcott, Dave Machemer, Derrik Gibson, Garin Cecchini, Heiker Meneses, Javier Herrera, Joe Panik, Julia Clukey, Mark Minicozzi, Ryan Lollis, Terry Doyle, Travis Shaw

July 31, 2013 · 11:53 am

Aschalew Mekete and Meseret Kitata win 2013 Yankee Homecoming 10 mile race

Aschalew Mekete wins with fellow Ethiopians Mengistu Nebsi and Tariku Bokan close behind.

Meseret Kitata takes the female division with Aimaz Fekade in sight behind her.

(Newburyport) They represented the West Side Runners of New York City, as well as Ethiopia, extremely well.

The top three spots in the 54th Yankee Homecoming 10-mile race in both male and female divisions were captured by newcomers to this race from WSX/Ethiopia in terrific times.

With temperatures in the low 70s, the Tuesday evening event was pleasant for both runners and spectators.

Dan Hocking narrowly won last year’s race with a time of 51:49. Granted it was a hot evening. In this year’s event, that time would have earned him 10th. That’s how fast the male field was this time around.

As the photo above shows, the top three (Aschalew Mekete, Mengistu Nebsi, and Tariku Bokan) were all in view in the final stretch at Newburyport High School. They were five seconds apart with Aschalew winning at 49:07.

Tariku, in 3rd, completed the course over a minute ahead of fourth place finisher Amos Sang (Abilene Christian/Kenya). Amos was part of the lead pack in the early going.

Early leaders in 10 mile

Another person in the early-lead pack was Tadesse Biratu who ended up 7th.

The winners in the female side were: Meseret Kitata, Aimaz Fekade, and Hirut Beyene. These women finished 17th, 18th, and 19th overall. Meseret’s time was 56:22 and Aimaz was only seven seconds after her.

Pat Fullerton runs alone at one-mile mark

Pat Fullerton dominated the 5K part of the racing program and that’s putting it mildly. I try to position myself one mile into the race (Cushing Museum) to get a sense of the early going. As my picture shows, Pat was at the museum as his pursuers are at the State Street/High Street traffic light. (What those cars in the picture are doing I’ll never know!)

Pat won the race (15:21) by over thirty seconds over Lucas Parson of Umass Lowell.

Alanna Poretta #1702

Alanna Poretta paced the 5K women (18:25) finishing 23rd overall. I saw her win the Cape Ann League championship running for Pentucket at Bradley Palmer Park a few years ago.

Rebecca Morse, also a Pentucket grad, finished third just four seconds behind Jana Schulson of Newburyport.

The races attracted a total of more than 3,000 runners ranging from the serious to the casual. The course provides a nice look at two of Newburyport’s most scenic areas: High Street and the downtown area.

In researching the West Side Runners of New York City, I found Alene Reta mentioned as a member. Alene won the Yankee Homecoming 10-mile event several times. Maybe he had something to do with getting this year’s participating club members involved in the Newburyport race??

This is the link to the complete race results for 2013.

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

Matt Pelletier (6th)

Brian Harvey (5th)

Amos Sang (4th)

Tadesse Biratu (7th) and Nick Karwoski (8th)

5K crowd at Fruit Street

Lucas Parson (#3038 – 2nd) and Stephen Robertson (#1803 – 3rd)

Hirut Beyene – 3rd

Aimaz Fekade – 2nd

Justin Freeman – former winner finishes 11th

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Filed under Yankee Homecoming

Tagged as Aimaz Fekade, Alanna Poretta, Alex McGrath, Amos Sang, Aschalew Mekete, Brian Harvey, Glarius Rop, Hirut Beyene, Jana Schulson, Justin Freeman, Lucas Parson, Matt Pelletier, Mengistu Nebsi, Meseret Kitata, Nick Karwoski, Pat Fullerton, Rebecca Morse, Tadesse Biratu, Tariku Bokan

July 13, 2013 · 2:45 pm

2013 Harrison Old Home Days parade

fire engine girl

(Harrison) I’ll admit it. I used to go to the Harrison Old Home Days parade for the candy. In fact, I used to bring my granddaughters along because they would attract candy tossers.

But that was until I started taking pictures for this blog. I now take my camera to every event I attend and almost always give the event a blog entry including pictures.

If you peruse my blog you’ll see that most of the events I attend are sports related. I’m getting to like parades because the participants see a camera and pose without encouragement.

Temperatures today (Saturday) were in the low 80’s and there was plenty of shade along the Main Street route to please spectators.

twins

(I do not sell pictures. However, I will send, via email, the original copy of a picture in its unedited condition to anyone requesting it.)

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

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Filed under Harrison Old Home Days

Tagged as 2013 Harrsion Old Home Days parade, Harrison Maine

July 10, 2013 · 10:39 pm

Tim Even and Halee Phelps win the Harrison 5K Run by the Lake

The runners slosh off in the Harrison 5K. Tim Even, in the blue shorts, gets a fast start.

(Harrison ME) Under downpour conditions, Tim Even won the 11th Annual Harrison Rec Department’s 5K on Wednesday night for the second straight year.

Halee Phelps (junior at Westbrook High School) paced the women with a seven second victory over Anna Lastra (sophomore at Fryeburg Academy).

Halee Phelps

Tim Even

The rainy conditions were a big factor. If you weren’t carrying an umbrella, or sitting in your vehicle, you were a runner.

It was actually quite dark for the 7PM start but those running this well-managed event (Tammy Anderson and Julie Crawford-Murphy) were more than capable of handling the safety issues that driving rain, darkness, and a flow of traffic might cause.

Tim Even, by way of Fryeburg Academy and Southern Maine, started fast and never trailed, although last year’s 73-second margin of victory was reduced to 13 seconds by Eric Darling.

Tim’s winning time was 17:19, which was over thirty seconds slower than last year. Blame the rain? Maybe. I saw Tim finish 17th in the big Bridgton 4th race a week ago after he took second in 2012. I’m guessing that there’s some sort of injury in the mix.

Eric Darling

Anna Lastra

Eric Darling, who won the race in 2011, finished ninth last year on a warm evening. The native of Shelborne VT shaved over three minutes off of his time in 2012 to get second place this year.

Josh Grenier and Brett Albright finished 3rd and 4th. Mark MacDougall (Lake Region High School) and Arno Bommer (from Houston) were separated by two seconds for 5th.

Tim Cushing (Bridgton) ended up 7th followed by Patrick Ridlon (he was 12th in 2012) and 18-year-od Michael Mayles. Nathan Cushing rounded out the top ten males.

Halee Phelps is 16-years-old and finished 16th overall to capture the female title. Close behind Halee was Anna Lastra a 15-year-old from Fryeburg Academy.

Erin Seavey of Newburgh (ME) was the third woman finisher.

Laracy brothers

For the second straight year I got a picture of the Laracy brothers, Matt (14) and Mitchell (11), running together down Main Street.

This site has complete race results.

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

Mark MacDougall (5th) and Arno Bommer (6th)

Brett Albright (4th)

Josh Grenier (3rd)

pre-race lineup

Tim Even pre-race

Erin Seavey (3rd female)

Nathan Cushing (10th)

Patrick Ridlon (8th) and Michael Mayles (9th)

Tim Cushing – 7th

pre-race darkness

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Filed under Harrison 5K Run by the Lake

Tagged as 2013 Harrison Recreation Department 5K Run by the Lake, Anna Laska, Eric Darling, Halee Phelps, Josh Grenier, Tim Even

July 4, 2013 · 9:32 pm

Moninda Marube and Mary Pardi win 37th Annual Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

(Bridgton) Last year the elite runners from away stayed away.

On this very hot morning, a collection of talented newcomers appeared and dominated the 37th annual race.

Moninda Marube

Mary Pardi

Moninda Marube, the 34-year-old originally from Kenya, started fast and won easily with a time of 20:27.

Second place finisher Matt Rand (Tufts University) trailed Moninda by over thirty seconds.

Finishing third was Craig Robinson (Bentley University) who trailed Matt by nearly thirty second.

So there was plenty of space between the first three. In each case, the runner ahead had reached the Bridgton News office as the next runner was coming down the hill above the Big A.
The promising youngster among the Top Ten was 15-year-old Thomas Ratcliffe, the Concord-Carlisle sophomore, who overtook John Vallo (Southern Maine) down the stretch to capture 4th. Thomas won the Dual County (MA) League championship for the mile in outdoor track as a freshman.

Matt Rand

Jenna Willett

Philip Parent of Pinkerton Academy (Derry NH) followed Pete Bottomley and Silas Eastman to get 8th.

Last year’s winner (Silas Eastman) finished two full minutes after the 2013 winner Moninda Marube in seventh place. Silas just graduated from Fryeburg Academy and in the fall will be attending Colby College.

Fifty-one-year-old Pete Bottomley reached sixth this time around after his best finish ever (3rd) in 2012.

Forty-year old Michael Keenan (South Glastonbury CT) got past Taylor Days-Merrill (Assumption College freshman) late to gain the ninth spot.

Mary Pardi finished twentieth overall and first among the women. Mary was ninth among the women in the 2012 Philadelphia Marathon.

Craig Robinson

Bridget Gagne

Jenna Willett (Kenyon College Fighting Scots) was second and Bridget Gagne (winner of the Miles for Miracles in Hartford last month) took third.

The tough heat was certainly a factor in this one. My suspicion is that many runners signed up but (wisely?) chose to stay away from the actual event. It was even hot watching the race!

The coolest spot in the area had to be where a mother duck and her five ducklings were situated in Stevens Brook as the race went on.

I did some Google research on Moninda Marube and was able to see his Facebook page. One of the pictures on the page looked very familiar to me and I realized that I had seen Moninda run last July in the Newburyport Yankee Homecoming 10-miler. Moninda came in a close 4th against a very strong field. Here is my story/pictures from that race.

Click here to see the race results for the 2013 Bridgton 4 on the 4th.

(If you click on any of the pictures they will enlarge considerably.)