Tag Archives: Ben Noelk

April 19, 2014 · 3:54 pm

Pat Slack and Georgetown hitting attack lead to 5-0 win over Amesbury

Pat Slack and teammates celebrate his two-hit shutout

Colby Ingraham about to cross home with the first Royals run

(Amesbury MA) Now, that’s more like it! (That was a reference to the weather.)

Georgetown had everything go their way as they defeated Amesbury, 5-0, on a sunny Saturday morning of Cape Ann League baseball.

The Royals (4-1) rode the arm of senior Pat Slack (two hitter) and a non-stop hitting attack (nine hits) to the victory.

While G’Town had hits and stranded baserunners (nine) in every inning, the Indians went through 4 1/3 innings without a baserunner. Nick Hawrylciw was the first to reach for Amesbury beating out (barely!) a grounder to shortstop Colby Ingraham. Later in that fifth inning Spencer Fournier would get a no-questions-asked single to right center. But those two hits were all that Amesbury (3-3) could muster.

Spencer Fournier (#8) had one of two Amesbury hits

Spencer Fournier’s hit to right center was only one of two balls to reach the Georgetown outfield. Pat Slack was that dominating in the complete game shutout. He had four strikeouts and kept the ball down. First baseman Nick Correnti ended up with ten putouts.

Junior Sam Burnham pitched six innings for Amesbury (3-3) in his first varsity start. Levi Burrill covered the last inning for the Indians.

Sam Burnham was charged with five runs but only two of them were earned.

The first of the unearned runs opened the scoring for the visitors in the first inning. After Colby Ingraham doubled with two outs, AHS shortstop Ben Cullen booted Kyle Nelson’s grounder allowing Colby Ingraham to get home.

Three more runs came across for the Royals in the second inning. Kevin Terban singled to left and was driven home by Chris Chiklakis’s triple to right center. An infield hit to deep short by Ben Noelk enabled Chris to get G’Town’s third run. A two-out throwing error by shortstop Ben Cullen followed adding a fourth run to the Royals’ total.

Sam Burnham

Georgetown’s third unearned run came in the sixth inning. Left fielder Brad Kelleher had trouble retrieving Mike Goddu’s single and as a result Mike reached second. Sam Burnham balked Mike to third. Sam would have gotten out of the inning but another infield error (second baseman Jared Dupere) gave Georgetown its fifth run.

So despite all the Georgetown hits and baserunners, this could have been a much closer game minus the five Amesbury miscues.

The Royals, meanwhile, were flawless in the field with few tough chances. Amesbury’s hardest shot, other than Spencer Fournier’s single, was a line drive toward second by Mac Short that Kevin Terban snared about shin level in the fourth inning.

Pat Slack (three hits) had two doubles that were part of Georgetown’s four extra-base hits.

Amesbury starter Sam Burnham took a hard shot off the shin in the third inning but recovered to toss the hitter out at first.

Colby Ingraham

Cape Ann League All-League performer Colby Ingraham is back. He suffered a torn ACL in football. He has a noticeable limp but still has enough range to handle the shortstop position. Colby almost got himself into trouble with the first base umpire when he had a loud reaction to his throw in the 5th inning that didn’t result in an out at first. GHS coach Justin Spurr was quick to pay a visit to the field to cool things down.

Mac Short, Colby Ingraham, and Ben Noelk were Cape Ann League All-League players in 2013. Pat Slack was a CAL All-Star last year.

Kevin Terban had two hits and scored two runs for the Royals.

Ben Cullen showed terrific range tracking down a first inning foul popup down the third baseline.

I’m guessing on this one but I believe that Amesbury sophomore second baseman Jared Dupere is the brother of Sarah Dupere the very talented senior softball pitcher at Governor’s Academy. I saw Sarah K seven Pingree batters and get three hits herself in a 13-0 shutout against the Highlanders.

Next game for Georgetown in Tuesday (10AM) hosting Hamilton-Wenham. Amesbury will host Pentucket (3:45PM) on the same day.

The weather was terrific. There was a pretty good crowd on hand and almost all of them were over-dressed. It’s just hard to believe so far this season that sunny, breezy, and 60’s could all come together in a pleasant outdoor experience!

Georgetown box

Amesbury box

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

Pitcher Sam Burnham recovers after taking a shot to the shin

Jared Dupere

Levi Burrill

Pat Slack

Nick Correnti stretches for his 10th putout

Ben Cullen tracks down a foul popup

Pat Slack caught in a rundown in the third inning.

Terrific shooting sends Georgetown past Amesbury 73-56

Pat Bjork (19 points) avoids leaping Ryan Foley

Ben Denoncour (15 points) hit five long ones in the first half from the same area

(Amesbury MA) Georgetown made shots from just about everywhere and overwhelmed Amesbury, 73-56, on Monday night in Cape Ann League action.

Before the game, it was announced that former Georgetown coach Mike Rowinski had passed away today from an undisclosed illness. Mike had a 90-72 record in eight years coaching the Royals and had taken a leave of absence this season to deal with health issues. His family is in my prayers.

The Royals (4-2 CAL/6-2 overall) destroyed the Amesbury zone defense with seven 3’s and seven baskets on rebounds. If you’re playing a zone you know that the opponent will get outside chances…….you hope they’ll miss. Giving up shots on the inside is supposed to be lessened by a zone defense. However, on this night G’Town was trouble from any distance!

Pat Halloren tries to shoot over Ryan Slack

Pat Halloran tries to shoot over Ryan Slack

The scrappy Indians (2-4 CAL/2-5 overall) made a game of it early. After Georgetown ran nine straight (three offensive rebound conversions and a Ben Denoncour three) to grab a 23-15 lead after one quarter, the Indians rallied back. Pat Halloran, Pat Scanlon, and Fred Halloran put an eight-spot together to tie the score.

But the rest of that second quarter senior Ben Denoncour drained three 3’s and led the visitors to a 43-35 halftime advantage.

Ben made five long ones in the first half. All of them were from the left corner in front of a very active Amesbury student section. Didn’t seem to faze him!

The Indians were still within nine (46-37) early in the second half before a six-point Royals run (two inside scores by Pat Bjork and one by Matt Gott) boosted their lead to 52-37. The margin reached twenty (70-50) halfway through the fourth quarter and reserves for both teams saw action the rest of the way.

6-5 Pat Bjork (19 points) caused problems for Amesbury every time he handled the ball in close. Pat was a CAL All-League player in 2012-13.

Matt Gott defends

The surprise, to me, was Matt Gott. Matt (18 points) is listed at 6-2 but was able to find room in close to notch five baskets. Matt was a CAL All-Star last season.

Senior Ben Noelk added twelve points for Georgetown.

Amesbury gave Georgetown too many good looks. They also struggled against the G’Town zone to get good shots for themselves, especially second shots. Missing nine of fifteen free throw attempts just made a tough night even more trying for the Indians.

Jack Fortin (13 points) and Pat Scanlon (10 points) paced Amesbury.

The Indians have now lost four straight.

Amesbury cheerleaders

Two first-year coaches (Tom Comeau – Amesbury and Barry Spears – Georgetown) were involved in this one.

The Royals were 4-16 last season while Amesbury was 10-11.

The Amesbury student section stayed active to the end led by their cheerleaders.

Amesbury will host Masconomet tomorrow night at 6:30PM while Georgetown will host North Reading at the same time.

Georgetown box

Amesbury box

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

Jack Fortin (13 points) gets a shot in the lane

Ben Noelk on the run

Ben Noelk (12 points) tries to shoot over Pat Scanlon

Pat Halloran

Georgetown defeats Ipswich 5-2 to run winning streak to seven

Alex Amoroso out at third

Winning pitcher Patrick Slack

(Ipswich) Georgetown won its seventh straight game (including the five that earned them the Division 4 title) as they defeated Ipswich, 5-2, on a pleasant Tuesday afternoon in Ipswich.

The Royals (2-0) collected two unearned runs in the 4th inning and survived a bases loaded, no-one-out situation in the 6th inning to gain the win in their Cape Ann League opener.

Ben Noelk and Tom Pingree each had two RBI for Georgetown. CJ Ingraham had three of the Royals’ nine hits and also drove in a run.

Junior Patrick Slack was the winning pitcher. He scattered three hits and K’d seven Tigers during six innings of work. Dave Ingraham pitched the seventh and recorded a 1-2-3 final inning.

Patrick Slack (1-0) put himself into some serious trouble in the sixth but managed to escape with minimal damage. Four batters into the sixth inning Patrick had given up a single (Ryan Law), made a bad throw to second on a grounder (Josh Guertin), walked a batter (Henry Sacco), and hit another batter (Kyle Barber).

Shortstop Colby Ingraham prepares to throw home to get a key out in the fifth inning

With one run in (score now 4-2) and more a distinct possibility, the drawn in G’town infield forced a run at the plate. Then Patrick K’d pinch-hitter Jordan Thibault and got Eric Gongas to end the threat grounding out to third.

The Royals broke open a 1-1 game in the 4th inning with two unearned runs both scored with two outs. A Dave Ingraham single and a walk to Mike Goddu put runners on base. An error by Tiger shortstop Mike Savoie on sophomore Kyle Nelson’s sharp grounder extended the inning with the bases loaded. Ben Noelk made Ipswich pay as he sliced a single in front of centerfielder Ryan Law delivering Dave Ingraham and Mike Goddu.

Ipswich starter Alex Amoroso

Alex Amoroso went the first four innings for Ipswich (0-1) and Sean Whooley the final three.

Georgetown touched Alex for a run in the first. A single and steal by leadoff batter Patrick Slack was followed by a run-scoring double by CJ Ingraham (3 hits).

Ipswich answered right back in the bottom of the first. Alex Amoroso reached on an infield hit and took second on a wild pitch. The Tiger senior reached third thanks to Ryan Law’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Kyle Barber’s rip off third baseman Tom Pingree’s glove.

The Royals picked up the two unearned runs in the fourth to lead 3-1 before adding another score in the fifth off of Sean Whooley. Colby Ingraham reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and was sent home by Tom Pingree’s single to right center.

Up 4-1, the Royals survived the Tiger threat in the sixth allowing just one run. Georgetown pushed across its 5th run in the seventh. CJ Ingraham singled, stole second, and was delivered with two outs by Tom Pingree.

CJ Ingraham (3 hits) takes a big cut

The two teams will meet again in two weeks at Georgetown. The Royals next game will be hosting Manchester-Essex on Thursday. The Tigers will entertain Amesbury next Tuesday at 10AM.

Division 3 Ipswich was 6-13 last season but lost eight of those game by one run.

GHS coach Justin Spurr has thirteen players back from last season’s championship team. Star Ryan Browner is now at Southern Maine but there is still plenty of talent on the roster. It is not hard to imagine Georgetown still playing games in June.