Tag Archives: Jack Fehlner

June 18, 2022 · 10:43 pm

Austin Prep takes Division 3 title 2-1 over Newburyport

(Lowell) #1 Austin Prep belonged here.

#10 Newburyport? Not so much.

But the Clippers found a way to reach the Division 3 state finals.

Unfortunately, reaching the finals was the best Newburyport could do, as Austin Prep took the D3 title this afternoon, 2-1, at LeLacheur Park.

The Cougars finish 25-0 in a season in which their notoriety went from local to state to national.

“We have had all kinds of pressure on us this season because of how well we’ve done,” said Austin Prep coach AP Pollard afterwards. “The expectations got higher as the season went along.”

Today’s game was tied at 1-1 with two outs in Austin Prep half of the fourth inning.

At that point, Brenden Walsh, who had struck out his first at bat, got into a Jack Fehlner curve.

Brenden’s line drive to center went over CF Owen Roberts’ head and rolled to the 400-foot sign.

“I thought I had lined out,” said Brenden post-game. “When I reached second and the outfielder still didn’t have the ball, I knew that I could score.”

Brenden Walsh completes an inside-the-park homer

And score he did. That inside-the-park homer turned out to be the game winner.

“Credit the pitcher,” added Brenden, “he knew how to work inside. That’s how he beat Medfield which is a very good hitting team. I was sitting on the curve because he beat me a few times inside with it in my first at-bat.”

Senior Jack Iannibelli was the complete-game winner for the Cougars.

Jack gave up three hits but none after the third inning. He registered nine strikeouts including the last two outs of the game.

“Jack did what he’s done his whole career today,” said Coach Pollard. “He only had one loss the whole time.”

The Cougars scored in the first inning. Jake Zawatsky singled, reached second on an infield error, and took third on a wild pitch. Matt Chatelle’s sacrifice fly drove in the run.

Newburyport responded with a run in the second inning. Jack Fehlner tripled and scored on Max Puleo’s infield out.

The Clippers threatened to take the lead in the third inning. After one-out singles by Jack Sullivan and Connor Stick, Jack Iannibelli, however, got Luke Stallard to fly out and Jack Fehlner to strike out to keep the game tied.

Jack Fehlner scores the Newburyport run in the second inning

AP put runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fifth but Jack Fehlner pitched his way out of each dangerous situation.

“Jack Fehlner is a tremendous competitor,” said Austin Prep coach AP Pollard. “He challenged us and wasn’t afraid of anybody.” Jack will pitch for Roanoke College (Virginia) next year.

Newburyport coach Mark Rowe was disappointed with the loss but added, “How can I be anything but proud to have been here and played the way we did?”

The Clippers (18-7) lost three straight games near the end of the regular season and looked to be heading for an early exit in the tournament ahead. However, they caught fire and won four straight tournament games including a last inning upset of #2 Medfield.

“We made a couple of mistakes out there today which you can’t do against a team like Austin Prep,” said Coach Rowe.

Austin Prep finished their 25-0 season with thirteen shutouts and only sixteen runs allowed.

The Cougars are now leaving the MIAA and venturing into the NEPSAC.

Both Pentucket and Newburyport had 2-1 losses to Austin Prep.

Talking to Coach Pollard afterwards had some unexpected excitement. Twice, not just once, players with containers of ice/juice rushed my way to try and pour the contents on him. I had to reach deep to locate the “quickness” to keep from getting soaked!

An interesting play occurred in the Newburyport fifth inning. Connor Stick tried to steal second and was ruled safe by the infield umpire. Then it looked like that umpire deferred to the home-plate umpire who then called Connor out to end the inning. Luke Stallard was the batter at the plate when the Connor-incident occurred. The next inning, Luke did not lead off. My assumption is that Luke was called out on strikes before the play at second happened. Most of the media coverage had winning pitcher Jack Iannibelli with nine strikeouts. That one would have given him ten.

(I have since learned that the batter, Luke Stallard, was declared out because of “batter interference.” It means he got in the way of the catcher as he tried to throw out Connor Stick attempting to steal second base. AP pitcher Jack Iannibelli ends up with nine strikeouts, not the ten I assumed.)

The weather was in the low 60’s and too cold for June.

Newburyport 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 = 1

Austin Prep 1 0 0 1 0 0 – = 2

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Filed under Austin Prep, Newburyport

Tagged as Brenden Walsh, Jack Fehlner, Jack Iannibelli

June 6, 2022 · 10:19 pm

Brady Ford’s 3-run homer key in Newburyport’s 4-1 win in D3 tourney over Tantasqua

Brady Ford greeted by teammates after 3-run homer in 6th inning

(Newburyport) It wasn’t what he intended but he’ll take it.

“I was trying to go to rightfield, but I hooked it around a bit and caught more than I expected, and it decided to carry,” said Brady Ford.

The shorter version, according to Jack Fehlner, was that “Brady hit a bomb.”

That unintentional bomb to left turned into a three-run homer in the sixth inning and spelled the difference in the Clippers 4-1 win over Tantasqua on Monday afternoon.

#10 Newburyport will face #7 Hudson at Hudson in the Division 3 Round of Sixteen later this week.

Today’s game was scoreless into the bottom of the sixth.

The Clippers, in fact, didn’t get a baserunner until the fourth inning against freshman starter Miles Blake.

Miles worked his way out of a base-loaded situation in that fourth inning getting Owen Tahnk to fly out.

The #23 Warriors (17-5) ran into two outs on the bases in their half of that fourth inning.

An infield error and two walks put Newburyport in a very promising one-out situation in the fifth inning. But Tantasqua coach John Leroux brought on Joe Amaru and he recorded an infield popup and a strikeout to douse that fire.

“We kept getting guys on base,” recalled Newburyport coach Mark Rowe. “You felt that something eventually was going to happen.”

And it did happen in the sixth inning.

Luke Stallard was hit by a pitch and went to third with one out on Max Puleo’s single. Owen Tahnk followed with a single that gave the Clippers the lead.

Now with two runners on, Brady Ford delivered a three-run homer.

The distance to the fence may only be 300 feet but the high fence adds significantly to the difficulty of hitting one out in that direction.

But out it went, and the Clippers had a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“It was my first varsity homer,” said Brady who is a senior.

The Warriors were now down to their last three outs, but they did anything but go quietly.

Twice in the seventh inning, they had the tying run at the plate. And twice they hit long flies. One turned into a run-scoring single (Henry Blake) and the other was caught by RF Jack Sullivan close to the fence to end the game.

“They were timing me up pretty good in that last inning,” said winning pitcher Jack Fehlner afterwards.

“But we did what we needed to do,” Jack added, “and it was a great team win.”

“It was a back-and-forth game,” said Coach Leroux. “They just got the clutch hits when they needed them.”

Coach Rowe was pleased with the win but not as pleased with some of the at-bats his team had. “I feel as though we should have challenged them more,” he said. “There were too many lazy flyballs and strikeouts.”

Shortstop Luke Stallard was smooth on grounders and was in the middle of the two Warriors caught on the bases in the fourth inning.

“I just did my best to make the plays and keep my team in the game,” said Luke afterwards.

Talking about his freshman starter, Coach Leroux said, “He’s going to be very good in the future for us. I would have liked to have pitched him longer today, but he was on short rest from our tournament game the other day (5-1 win over Boston Latin).

Senior Jack Fehlner was the complete-game winner. Jack gave up four hits with no walks.

Devin Krochmalnyckyj, Jack Rapose, Jack Ricciuti, and Henry Blake had the hits for Tantasqua.

The weather was marvelous.

Tantasqua 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1

Newburyport 0 0 0 0 0 4 – = 4

Hunter Normandin scores the Tantasqua run in the 7th inning

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Filed under Newburyport, Tantasqua Regional

Tagged as Brady Ford, Henry Blake, Jack Fehlner, Miles Blake, Owen Tahnk

April 7, 2022 · 11:55 pm

Newburyport gets 5-4 walkoff win over Bishop Fenwick

Owen Tahnk (3 hits) scores the game winner

(Newburyport) Twice Newburyport trailed but twice they rallied.

A walkoff single by Jack Fehlner was key in the final rally as the Clippers defeated Bishop Fenwick, 5-4, on Thursday afternoon.

“Credit Newburyport,” said Crusaders coach Matt Antonelli afterwards. “They were down two times, and they came back both times.”

Jack Fehner went the distance for the Clippers allowing five hits. His wild pitch, however, in the Fenwick seventh gave the visitors a 4-3 lead.

But Jack the pitcher is also Jack the hitter and in the bottom of the seventh he delivered a walkoff single to center that set off some serious celebrating by the Clippers.

“I wasn’t surprised at all by what Jack did,” said Newburyport coach Mark Rowe post-game. “He’s that good.”

The Clippers had only four hits off the pitching of Mike Geissler and Marco Carrillo going into bottom of the seventh.

But after one out, the Clippers put four straight hits together to tie and then win the game.

Eli Suchecki had a pinch-hit double in the seventh inning

Pinch-hitter Eli Suchecki started the rally with a double and Owen Tahnk (3 hits) drove Eli in with another double to tie the score.

Max Puleo then singled sending Owen to third.

That collection of hits gave Jack his chance. Jack tried a squeeze bunt that nearly worked before singling to center to score Owen with the game winner.

“We came together in the bottom of the seventh,” said Jack. “It was a team effort. Eli, Owen, and Max got on to give me a chance. My hit was off a curve.”

The Clippers had the bases loaded in the second and third innings. Only one run resulted, and it was driven in by Charlie Forrest on a fielder’s choice in the second inning.

The Crusaders took the lead in the fifth inning. Two hits (Costa Beechin and Nick Villano), two stolen bases, an infield error, and a passed ball produced three runs. Chris Faraca and Nick Villano had the RBIs.

But the Clippers bounced back in their half of the fifth. Two hits (Luke Stallard and Jack Fehlner), two wild pitches, and an infield error led to two runs and a 3-3 tie. Max Puleo and Jack Fehlner had the RBIs.

Things unraveled for Newburyport in the seventh. A leadoff walk (Gianni Mercurio) was followed by two passed balls and a wild pitch and the Crusaders had the lead and were only three outs away from their first win.

Connor Stick walked leading off the bottom of the seventh for Newburyport but was picked off by reliever Marco Carrillo. However, the next four Clippers had hits and Newburyport had its first win.

“We won the game despite some things not going the way we wanted them to,” said Coach Rowe. “The kids were resilient. It was nice to get our first win against a very, very good team.”

“We’ve got to throw more strikes and make plays in the field,” said Coach Antonelli. The BF pitchers gave up seven walks.

Owen Tahnk drove in the tying run in the seventh inning for Newburyport. He finished the afternoon with three hits and scored the winning run.

Jack Fehlner had two hits and two RBI to go with his complete-game five hitter.

“My slider worked pretty well,” said Jack afterwards. “They have a lot of great hitters on that team. They pieced some balls off me for sure.”

Nick Villano led Fenwick with two hits and an RBI.

“We’re now 0-3,” said Coach Antonelli, “and the way to get out of it is to work hard in practice. We’ll work on defense and throwing strikes. It’s still early in the season.”

Nice catch by centerfielder Owen Roberts in the third inning.

The weather was miserable….40’s and windy. It was such a good game, however, that dwelling on the discomfort was minimized.

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Connor Stick scores the 2nd Newburyport run

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Tagged as Coach Matt Antonelli, Jack Fehlner, Nick Villano, Owen Tahnk

April 2, 2022 · 9:36 pm

Gloucester edges Newburyport 4-3 in opener

Zach Morris throw from left nails Jack Fehlner at the plate

Owen Tahnk scores the Clippers third run

(Newburyport) Newburyport gave extra outs to Gloucester in the fifth inning and it cost them.

The Fishermen came away with a 4-3 win in the Saturday afternoon non-league game that was the opener for both teams.

“It was the first game of the season, and you could tell it at times for both teams,” said Gloucester coach Rory Gentile afterwards.

“It was a game that I feel we should have won but we made mistakes and you can’t do that against an excellent team like Gloucester,” said Clippers coach Mark Rowe.

The game featured three pitchers (Jack Fehlner, Zach Morris, and Brett Moore) who are all committed to pitch at the next level.

The Boston Herald had cited both teams as “teams to watch in Division 3.”

“Newburyport looked like a very good team,” said Coach Gentile. “That’s a team we may be seeing later on.”

Newburyport took a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning.

Junior Max Puleo was hit by a pitch, stole second, and hustled home on a two-out blooper that fell into short right field in the first inning.

In the fourth inning, senior Jack Fehlner lit into a Zach Morris high fastball and sent it over the left field fence.

“When we were down 2-0 it felt like 100-to-nothing,” recalled Coach Gentile. “We weren’t doing much of anything right.”

Things turned Gloucester’s way in the fifth and sixth innings.

In the fifth, Zach Morris tripled in teammate Brett Moore with the first Fishermen score.

“My first two times up were not what I wanted,” said Zach afterwards. “I was trying to do too much. The third at-bat I saw the curve and waited on it.”

Brett Moore had two hits and closed out the game for Gloucester

The Clippers had two chances to escape with just one Gloucester run in that inning, but a line-drive drop, and a messed-up pickoff led to more at bats and two more runs.

“We played well defensively at times,” said Coach Rowe, “but we did make defensive mistakes that cost us maybe the game.”

The Fishermen added the eventual game-winner in their half of the sixth inning. Thomas Elliott singled, stole second and scored on Brett Moore’s double to right.

That 4-2 Gloucester lead was severely threatened in the Newburyport sixth.

The Clippers put three straight singles together off Zach Morris with Brady Ford’s single driving across Owen Tahnk. Another walk (Jack Sullivan) loaded the bases with no outs.

It certainly appeared, at the time, that Newburyport was likely to collect some more runs…..but they didn’t.

Coach Gentile brought in Brett Moore from left to replace Zach and Zach went out to play left. I am not sure if a coach could ask for a player switch to work out any better than this one did.

Owen Roberts flied out to left and Zach gunned down Jack Fehlner trying to score from third base.

“I got behind that ball and said, ‘we need this’ and let it go,” recalled Zach. The throw was perfect and a very fast runner (Jack Fehlner) was clearly out at home plate.

Brett Moore struck out the next batter to limit Newburyport to a lone run.

“We’re up one, no outs, with the bases loaded and we get out of it,” said Coach Gentile. “We need to not rely on getting lucky but get ahead of batters.”

Sophomore Connor Stick reached third with two outs in the last inning, but Brett struck out the final batter.

“Brett Moore (commit to Curry) is one of our senior leaders,” said Coach Gentile. “He had a great year last year. That’s what we expect him to do.”

The Fishermen collected nine hits off Jack Fehlner and Charlie Forrest. Brett Moore, Emerson Marshall, and Thomas Elliott had two hits each.

The Clippers finished with six hits. Owen Tahnk and Jack Fehlner each had two of them.

Jack pitched four plus innings. “I had a pitch limit in mind for him,” said Coach Rowe. “He could have finished that inning but it’s early in the season and I don’t want to hurt his arm.”

Zach Morris is committed to URI next season. “I loved the coaching staff there,” he said. “The energy I saw there was awesome.”

I asked Zach for the reason why his teammates and coaches were calling him, “Tuna.” “I was almost born with that nickname,” he said. “My godmother had a lake behind her house that I would swim in but never get out of. She called me, “Tuna,” and it got around.”

Plenty of sunshine on this Saturday afternoon at Pettingell Park. The wind, however, kept everyone from getting too comfortable.

(The pictures will enlarge.)

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Filed under Gloucester, Newburyport

Tagged as Brett Moore, Coach Rory Gentile, Jack Fehlner, Owen Tahnk, Zach Morris

January 29, 2022 · 12:28 am

Seventeen 3’s send Newburyport by Triton 72-48

James Scali (16 points) had four 3’s in the first quarter

(Newburyport MA) Things were falling in Newburyport.

And it wasn’t the snow.

That’s scheduled to arrive later.

What was falling was long shot after long shot by the Newburyport Clippers boys’ basketball team.

I don’t have access to the Clippers’ stat records but I’m guessing that tonight’s avalanche of three’s (seventeen!) was a school record or close to it.

Triton was on the wrong end of Newburyport’s hot shooting and fell, 72-48, on Friday night in Cape Ann League action.

The Clippers collected twelve 3’s in the first half and exploded to a 46-24 advantage.

Senior James Scali (16 points) had four 3’s in the first quarter and gave the Clippers the lead for good (5-4) with the first one he made.

“It was a fun first quarter,” said James afterwards. “It set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Junior Will Thoreson (12 points) came off the Newburyport bench to drill three 3’s in the second quarter. He loved the corners getting two of his 3’s from the right and the other from the left.

“It felt good coming off my hands every single time,” said Will post-game.

Coach Dave Clay was pleased with Will’s success tonight. “Will has been working so hard in practice. The shots haven’t always been falling for him, but they were tonight. I’m glad for him.”

Triton’s Dylan Wilkinson (20 points) led all scorers. His ability to weave and spin his way through defenders to the basket makes him difficult to contain.

“We started out okay,” said Dylan afterwards, “but then that (James) Scali kid got hot. They’re a good team. Every kid on that team can play.”

The Clippers took a twenty-point lead for the first time with two minutes left before halftime. The Vikings (5-7) moved their deficit inside of twenty twice in the fourth quarter. The first (57-38) was after a Dylan Wilkinson rebound put-back. The second one (60-41) followed Luke O’Leary’s crowd-pleasing three from the right corner.

“Newburyport made a ton of three’s,” said Triton coach Ted Schruender post-game. “Credit them for hitting all the shots they did, but we have to get off to better starts. On this night they scored against whatever we tried to do defensively.”

The Newburyport fans turned out and had plenty to cheer about.

Coach Clay did the player introductions for the second time this season. “I’m trying to make myself more valuable,” he said laughing.

Senior Jack Fehlner also had sixteen points for Newburyport. There were four 3’s in his scoring package. He also turned a steal into a layup (Pick Two) in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers are now 9-4 and have won four straight. They are also 5-0 at home.

Newburyport defeated Triton, 61-52, in December. James Scali had four three’s in that game as well.

Newburyport 27 19 11 15 = 72

Triton 16 8 10 14 = 48

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Griffin Dupuis drives against Finn Sullivan

James Scali had four 3’s in Newburyport’s first game vs Triton

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Tagged as Dylan Wilkinson, Jack Fehlner, James Scali, Will Thoreson

November 11, 2021 · 1:22 am

Newburyport gains D3 final eight with 1-0 win over North Reading

Newburyport celebrates 1-0 win over North Reading

The Clippers goal came early in the 2nd half

(Newburyport MA) The Newburyport Clippers had lost to North Reading on October 25^th.

It was their only loss (so far) this season.

That history played a part in Newburyport’s 1-0 win over North Reading tonight.

“We came out ready to play,” said Coach Shaw Bleau. “We carried the momentum, finally got a goal, and held them off.”

“The last time we played them we took our only loss,” recalled Max Gagnon. “We wanted revenge.”

Playing with more determination was one thing but the key to the Clippers’ win tonight was neutralizing Hornets’ standout junior Josh Stanieich.

NR goalie Kieran Gorgenyi had a busy night

“They (Newburyport) did a great job of taking away what we like to do,” said NR coach Mark Bisognano. “They took away our best player (Josh Stanieich). They man-marked him out of the game. It was good strategy. It’s what I would have tried to do against us.”

Coach Bleau identified that player doing the marking. It was junior Will Thoreson.

“Will stayed all over him,” said Coach Bleau. “He marked him as best he could right out of the game.”

Will told me that he had been assigned to mark other players before tonight.

“It’s kind of my trademark now,” Will said. “It’s pretty much a basketball defense. I have to see the ball and the man at the same time.”

Josh Stanieich warranted all the attention because his goal had beaten the Clippers on October 25^th. Also, Josh had the game winner in North Reading’s tournament win.

Will Acquaviva (8) about to set up the Newburyport goal

Liam Rodger (2) and James Forest-Hay (12)

Will’s defense helped limit Josh to just one shot.

“He had one clean shot early on and it went 15’ over the bar,” said Will. “That was the only one he had.”

The Clippers (18-1-1) applied plenty of pressure on the Hornets (10-5-3).

Every throw-in by senior Jack Fehlner landed in the box area and kept NR goalie Kieran Gorgenyi very busy.

The Clippers weren’t shy about substituting, either.

“We kept putting in subs to keep the pressure on,” said Coach Bleau. “We stayed after it.”

Newburyport got its only goal two minutes into the second half.

Will Acquaviva put a cross in front of the North Reading goal and it was deflected in off a Hornets’ defender.

“You let a guy get to the end line and you’re in a lot of trouble as a defender,” said Coach Bisognano recalling the goal. “He (Will Acquaviva) hit a good smart ball across the face of the goal, and it ended up in the back of our net.”

Will Acquaviva was quite certain that teammate Caelen Twitchell would have gotten the goal if the defender hadn’t deflected it.

“I was coming to the near post on the right side and the goalie was there,” said Will. “I cut it back past him and Caelan (Twitchell) was there. The defender didn’t have many options. If he didn’t touch it, Caelan would have.”

“You keep pressuring a team and hope you’ll get a break and I think that we got one on that goal,” said Coach Bleau.

Newburyport goalie Owen Tahnk up for a second-half save

Graham Smith (2) and Josh Stanieich (14)

The Hornets turned up the pressure after the Newburyport goal.

“We created a few chances late when it became desperate times,” said Coach Bisognano.

“North Reading gave us our only loss this season,” said Coach Bleau. “They defend really well. They’re very organized and dangerous at the same time. We knew that we couldn’t go to sleep on them.”

#6 Newburyport will travel Saturday to face #3 Norwell at 5PM.

“Coach (Bleau) saw Norwell play the other night,” said Max Gagnon.

The Clippers are 10-0-1 at home. The tie was with Pentucket.

Good crowd with active support for both teams.

Will Thoreson: “He (Josh Stanieich) tries to beat you one-on-one. I tried to keep him to his weak foot.”

Coach Bisognano: “I’m glad that we have a Cape Ann representative in the final eight. Of course, I hoped it would be us! We thought that we had another shot at an upset.”

Jack Fehlner: (He has committed to play baseball at Roanoke College.) “My sister goes to James Madison in Virginia. When we moved her in, I went to a prospect camp down there. I met the Roanoke coach. I toured the campus and liked it down there.”

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

Newburyport celebrates goal before it goes up on the scoreboard

Action in the box in front of the North Reading goal

Cody Cannalonga (24) and Jack Fehlner (20)

Jason Emerson (4) and Will Acquaviva (8)

Nate Miller (13) and Brady O’Donnell (9)

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Filed under Newburyport, North Reading

Tagged as Coach Mark Bisognano, Coach Shawn Bleau, Jack Fehlner, Max Gagnon, Will Acquaviva, Will Thoreson

October 8, 2021 · 10:43 pm

Clippers now 12-0 after 3-0 win over Royals

Georgetown GK Kyle Davies under attack from Henry Acton (6) and Max Gagnon (10)

(Newburyport MA) All Georgetown wanted to do was keep the game close on the scoreboard.

So they packed in the defense around goalie Kyle Davies.

The undefeated Clippers (12-0) were still able to win, 3-0, but their high-powered offense was slowed down a bit.

“We were just trying to keep it close,” said Georgetown coach Chris DiFranco afterwards. “I thought our guys did a good job at that.”

The Royals (3-8) gained some satisfaction defensively, but in doing so, they surrendered on the offensive end.

About thirteen minutes into the game, a weak roller reached Newburyport goalkeeper Owen Tahnk. That was the ONLY time he touched the ball the entire game.

Down the other end, Georgetown goalkeeper Kyle Davies was busy.

“It was crazy back there,” said Kyle postgame. “They had a ton of shots on net (20?), but I had my defense in front of me keeping me alive.”

Jameson Brooks and Henry Acton scored in the first half while Caelan Twitchell added a goal in the second half.

“Georgetown had a defensive plan for us, and it frustrated us for a bit,” said Coach Shawn Bleau of Newburyport afterwards. “They made it difficult for us after the first two goals.”

“They dropped a lot of guys back and were well organized,” added Coach Bleau. “They always had 2-3 players around our top players.”

“We did well possessing the ball,” recalled Clippers senior Jack Fehlner. “They didn’t seem to want to go on attack. They would boot it out. We would settle it and pass it around some more.”

“The score doesn’t show how well we played,” added Jack.

The Clippers moved closer to the school’s record for goals scored in a season. The record is currently forty-five. By adding three goals today they have now reached forty-four.

“We had some great goals today,” said Coach Bleau.

“We work in practice on getting the ball to the end line and then cutting it back,” said Coach Bleau. “That’s what happened on the first goal. Great timing and the shot (by Jameson Brooks) went inside the side post.”

“The shot was unstoppable,” said Royals GK Kyle Davies. “He got it at the top of the box and turned and shot. It went in the bottom corner.”

Jameson’s goal happened four minutes into the game.

Thirteen minutes later (23:21) it was Henry Acton’s turn to score. Instead of a pass to get closer to the goal, a back pass set Henry up further away from the goal. Henry had time to really get his foot into a shot.

“It was a complete bomb from twenty-five yards,” said Coach Bleau. “He couldn’t have gotten a much better hit.”

“It was just a rip to the top corner,” recalled Kyle Davies. “I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Coach DiFranco said that he, “hadn’t seen a shot like that all year.”

The Royals persisted with the defensive strategy in the second half.

“Their goalie was good,” said Jack Fehlner. “He’s big and he came out and caught a lot of our crosses.”

Although the outcome was settled, the Clippers wanted at least another goal.

“We pressed and pressed at the end to try and get one more goal on account of the ranking stuff,” said Coach Bleau.

With 7:50 remaining, Caelan Twitchell ruined Georgetown’s second-half shutout.

“It was off a side volley which is a pretty impressive shot,” recalled Coach Bleau.

“He made a good move,” said Kyle Davies. “It was a good turn-and-shoot.”

It has now been eight years since Georgetown had a win versus Newburyport.

The Royals have now lost four straight games. They have wins over Triton, Cristo Rey, and Hamilton-Wenham.

The twelve wins to open the season are the best in NHS history.

The Clippers have nine shutouts in their twelve wins. I did see NHS goalie Owen Tahnk make some saves in practice!

Newburyport is 49-14-17 since the start of the 2017 season.

I asked Coach Bleau what makes the 2021 team so good. “We have a lot of kids who came up through our youth system. They’ve been together for a while. We’ve got depth. We’re playing a lot of guys, so we don’t have any injuries.”

Coach DiFranco was very optimistic about the future for Newburyport this season. “They have a good chance at a state championship. It’s a special year for them.”

Senior Jack Fehlner has been a terrific athlete for NHS in soccer, basketball, and baseball. I asked him about next year: “I haven’t really decided. I probably won’t play soccer at the next level. It could well be baseball.”

New England weather! A nice warm morning and afternoon turned into a cold, windy evening.

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

Will Acquaviva on the attack for Newburyport

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Filed under Georgetown, Newburyport

Tagged as Caelan Twitchell, Coach Chris DiFranco, Coach Shawn Bleau, Henry Acton, Jack Fehlner, Jameson Brooks, Kyle Davies, Owen Tahnk

June 12, 2021 · 9:28 pm

Jack Fehlner leads Newburyport to Spofford title

Jack Fehlner was the center of attention when the game ended

Newburyport Clippers win the 2021 Spofford Tournament

(Georgetown MA) Newburyport was desperate for a win.

After an impressive 9-1 month of May, June turned into a problem.

After an early win in June, three straight losses had followed, most recently, a 12-1 nightmare loss to North Reading.

Before that NR disaster had been a tough 7-2 defeat this past Wednesday to Triton. A game in which Jack Fehlner came in to give relief and suffered through a five-run outburst by the Vikings.

Fast forward to this afternoon. Again, it was Triton and again it was Jack Fehlner doing the pitching.

But what a difference this time!

Jack Fehlner limited Triton to four hits

Today, Jack pitched a four-hit, complete-game shutout as the Clippers downed Triton, 5-0, to take home the championship trophy in the Spofford Tournament.

“After that loss to Triton, the team gave me some great words of encouragement,” said Jack post-game, “that really helped.”

Jack’s pitching was probably enough to make him the tourney MVP but when he added a home run in the seventh inning the guesswork ended.

“Jack’s homer wasn’t a surprise to me,” said Newburyport coach Mark Rowe. “He hits bombs in practice.”

Through three innings, Jack allowed only one baserunner while Triton starter DJ Watson allowed just one hit (Luke Stallard).

The Clippers bats came to life in the fourth inning.

A single (Luke Stallard) and a walk (Jax Budgell) set up Newburyport’s leading hitter (Jake Buontempo) for an RBI single to left.

Jake took second without a throw and senior Tony Lucci followed with a two-run double to right center.

“It was an outside pitch,” recalled Tony. “Coach (Rowe) always tells us to take that one to rightfield and that’s what I did.”

Triton (7-7) threatened to cut into Newburyport’s 3-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Andrew Masher and Griffin Dupuis executed a perfect hit-and-run to put runners on first and third with two outs in that inning. Jack Fehlner, however, was able to get a strikeout to get out of it.

Jake Buontempo had a long homer to left in the sixth inning

The Clippers (11-4) added another run in the sixth as Jake Buontempo hit a long home run over the leftfield fence.

“I was down 0-2,” said Jake. “I had seen two curveballs. I choked up a little bit like I always do and got a nice curveball and ripped it.”

The Vikings were back threatening in the sixth inning. Consecutive singles by Brady Lindholm and Cael Kohan set up Triton with one out. After a flyball out to left, Ryan Lindholm hit a flare into short left. It had trouble written all over it! But Newburyport shortstop Tony Lucci ran straight back for it and caught it in true snow-cone fashion to end the inning and save a run.

“The catch by Tony was awesome,” said Jack Fehlner. “It was such a clutch play.”

“I was a bit nervous going after it, but I ran as fast as I could to make the catch,” said Tony.

Jack finished off the final Triton inning with consecutive strikeouts.

“Jack came in determined after they got to him the other day,” said Coach Rowe. “He felt that he had something to prove today.”

Triton coach Ryan McCarthy: “Both teams hit the ball hard today. I thought that the Fehlner kid pitched a great game today. We hit him hard the other day, but he bounced back.”

Nick White: “It was a nice bounce-back win. We’ve been struggling lately.”

Coach Rowe: “We were kind of on our heels after the last few games, but we had a long talk yesterday and had a good practice.”

There was some uncertainty on Jack Fehlner’s homer in the seventh inning. “I wasn’t sure it was out,” said Jack, “until their shortstop told me.”

Newburyport captains Tony Lucci, Ryan Archer, and Nick White with trophy

Jack Fehlner: “My two-seam fastball was working really well.”

Triton had seven infield groundouts.

Newburyport last won the Spofford Tournament in 2018.

Triton’s last one was in 2012.

Ideal weather.

Generous donations announced pre-game to help the family of a firefighter who is battling cancer.

I learned from Coach McCarthy that the post-season tournament will only be for the North title. He also thought that the tournament had to end by July 1^st.

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

Tony Lucci makes a (blurry) snow-cone catch

Jax Budgell heads home with the second Newburyport run

RF Cole Daniels made a terrific catch in the second inning

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Filed under Newburyport, Triton

Tagged as Brady Lindholm, DJ Watson, Jack Fehlner, Jake Buontempo, Tony Lucci

May 15, 2021 · 5:49 pm

Undefeated Newburyport shuts out Manchester-Essex 7-0

Jack Fehlner pitched a 2-hit complete game for the Clippers

Kellen Heney held the Clippers hitless for five innings

(Newburyport MA) The weather was perfect.

Manchester-Essex pitcher Kellen Heney was perfect…..through five innings.

But when the game ended, Newburyport was perfect (4-0) after defeating the Hornets, 7-0, on Saturday morning at Pettingell Field.

ME struggled in the field all game collecting miscues in five of the six innings.

“Our pitchers have been pitching well,” said ME coach James Weed afterwards. “I’m just not used to the kind of defense we’re playing.”

The shaky defense gave the Clippers a run in the fourth, but this was a one-run game going into the Newburyport sixth.

Then the wheels fell off for the visitors. An infield error and five Newburyport hits put six runs on the board and sealed this one for the home team.

Jack Fehlner pitched a complete-game two-hitter for the Clippers. He wasn’t overpowering (one strikeout) but gave up just two walks.

“Jack was in total command,” said Newburyport coach Mark Rowe post-game. “It was as good as I’ve seen him pitch. It was his first complete game.”

Catcher Nick White: “Jack’s fastball was working today. Usually, it’s the off-speed pitch but today the fastball was the primary out pitch. He challenged them.”

The Clippers 1-0 lead looked anything but secure heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.

“The scoreboard doesn’t show how close this game really was,” added Jack Fehlner. “They’re a great team.”

Jake Buontempo had the first Newburyport hit in the 6th inning

Senior Jake Buontempo was in the middle of the Newburyport success in the sixth inning.

Jake ended Kellen Heney’s hitless streak with a double that drove in Luke Stallard who had reached on an infield error.

Rare play alert! Demetri Connor popped the ball behind the plate near the backstop. Catcher Michael Quill and pitcher Kellen Heney both went after it and Michael got it. Jake alertly took advantage and raced in from third.

Jake reached third on Nick White’s infield hit.

“I was watching to see where the pitcher was going,” recalled Jake. “He followed the catcher to the backstop, so I knew the plate was wide open and I took what I had.”

Jake also made a nice running catch in rightfield in the fifth inning and ended the game with a routine catch.

The Hornets (1-4) are the defending Division 4 state champions. I was at LaLacheur Park (Lowell) on June 22, 2019 when they defeated Tahanto, 5-2.

Will Levendusky was part of that team but a football injury has kept him from playing so far.

“It hurts not to have Will but for us it’s “next man up,” said Coach Weed. “We have three freshmen playing. We’re just trying to find the right formula. We’ll get it going. We’ll make a run.”

Freshman Kellen Heney was the starter and winner in the state title game. He’s now a junior.

“Their pitcher was good,” explained Jake Buontempo. “He could locate really well. Toward the end we started to catch onto him.”

Coach Mark Rowe: “It was two top-notch pitchers out there. Unfortunately, his defense let him down a bit. We challenged by putting balls in play and forcing them to make plays. When they didn’t make plays, we took advantage.”

AJ Pallazola and Michael Quill had the hits for Manchester-Essex.

Jack Fehlner: “It was a beautiful day to be out here with the guys. Our guys made plays. I’ll put some ice on my arm and get back at it Tuesday against Lynnfield.”

Speaking of ice, I have a picture of Will Levendusky pouring the contents of an ice bucket over the head of Coach Weed in the celebrating after the D4 title win. On that hot day and under those circumstances, it probably felt pretty good.

Remarkable weather and plenty of fans from both schools out enjoying it.

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

Luke Stallard steals 2B as Michael Deoreo tries to tag him

Jack Fehlner dives back into 2nd as Satchem Ramos tries to tag him

AJ Pallazola dives back into first as Brady Ford takes throw

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Filed under Manchester-Essex, Newburyport, Uncategorized

Tagged as Jack Fehlner, Jake Buontempo, Kellen Heney, Nick White

May 11, 2021 · 10:39 pm

Newburyport hitting key to 7-1 win vs Pentucket

Jake Buontempo (gold helmet) congratulated after 2-run homer in sixth inning

Sophomore Owen Tahnk won his first varsity start.

(Newburyport MA) “Our whole team swings the bat well,” said Newburyport coach Mark Rowe post-game.

That skill was certainly on display today with eleven hits recorded for the home team.

Eight different Clippers (2-0) had hits as they defeated Pentucket, 7-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Pettingell Field in Cape Ann League action.

Meanwhile, the pitching of Owen Tahnk and Jack Fehlner held Pentucket to three hits. Only one of those hits came over the final five innings.

The Sachems (1-2) led early, 1-0, and could have had more. They had the bases loaded with one out in the third inning but came up empty.

“We’ve got to do a better job swinging the bat with runners in scoring position,” said Pentucket coach Kevin Murray.

Trevor Kamuda and Bryce Winter pitched for the Sachems.

Sophomore Owen Tahnk got the win for the Clippers going five innings in his first varsity start, giving up three hits, and striking out five.

“Owen was dominant early,” said Coach Rowe. “When he did get some baserunners (bases loaded in the 3^rd, second and third in the 5^th) he managed to find a way out of it. I’m incredibly proud of him.”

The Clippers struck twice with two outs; first in the fourth inning and then in the fifth.

In the 4^th, the runs came on a Luke Stallard double, an intentional walk to Jake Buontempo, and a bases-clearing double by Ryan Archer over the leftfielder’s head.

“The pitch was in my sweet spot, a little inside, a little low,” recalled Ryan Archer. “I just wanted to put it in play.

Those two runs gave Newburyport the lead, 2-1.

In the 5^th, Charlie Forrest was hit by a pitch and took second on a passed ball. Jack Fehlner’s double to left scored Charlie, and Tony Lucci’s next-batter double scored Jack.

Jack Fehlner had 2 hits, an RBI, and 2 innings of scoreless relief

The Clippers added three runs to their 4-1 margin in the sixth inning.

In that 6^th inning, Newburyport had four straight hits off reliever Bryce Winter.

The big shot was Jake Buontempo’s 2-run homer over the leftfield fence.

“It felt really good off the bat,” said Jake afterwards. “It was a fastball up and in. I caught it at the right time, and it just flew. It was my first home run in high school.”

Junior Quinn Fortuna drove home the seventh Newburyport run.

Coach Murray: “I thought we pitched well. We just didn’t swing the bats. We were better than what the score shows. We’re two weeks in with room to grow.”

Coach Rowe: “It was a good baseball game. I give the (Trevor) Kamuda kid a lot of credit. He was your typical crafty lefty. He threw strikes and he kept us off balance. We had hits at key opportunities.”

The defense was solid for both teams. Trevor Kamuda started a double play in the first inning. Shortstop Andrew Melone made a nice running catch in short left to end the Newburyport second.

The weather was good. It was breezy but the fielders didn’t let it bother them.

In the Newburyport win over Triton, the game ended on a running catch in foul territory. More of the same today, as 1B Charlie Forrest avoided the out-of-bounds line to catch the final out.

Ryan Archer: “We’re just two games in with a long way to go. We’ve got bigger goals than winning this game today.”

You know it’s not your day when you’re driving past the game and a foul ball catches your car on the roof as it did to some unlucky driver today.

Pettingell Field looked to be in terrific shape. I saw why afterwards when every member of the Newburyport team went to work on it to keep it that way.

(All of the pictures should enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

(Some of the pictures will end up on Instagram eventually.)