Tag Archives: Owen Tahnk

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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Filed under Bishop Fenwick, Newburyport

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

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

May 18, 2021 · 9:23 pm

Newburyport stays undefeated (5-0) after 2-0 win over Lynnfield

Sophomore Owen Tahnk allowed five hits and had six strikeouts in a complete game win.

Michael Habib scored the first Newburyport run

(Newburyport MA) The Clippers continue to win.

This afternoon it was, 2-0, over Lynnfield.

Coach Mark Rowe said afterwards that he was happy with the 5-0 start but wasn’t thrilled with the way his team played today.

“I think that we were a little flat,” he said. “Maybe it was because it was the first really warm day we’ve played in.”

There were popups and weak grounders by a team that has been making solid connections regularly.

“The majority of our at bats were disappointing,” Coach Rowe added.

But steady pitching by sophomore Owen Tahnk kept Newburyport in the game despite only three hits.

Senior Trent Balian pitched very effectively for the Pioneers.

Good teams find ways to win.

“We took advantage of our opportunities,” said Coach Rowe.

THE opportunity was the fifth inning. A one-out single by senior Michael Habib was followed by two walks (Jack Fehlner & Tony Lucci).

Luke Stallard’s long fly to center delivered Michael while Jake Buontempo’s sharp single to center brought Jack home.

Those two runs held up.

Lynnfield (1-4) had chances.

Spencer Riley doubled off the fence in left

The Pioneers collected five hits and had runners in scoring position in the first four innings as well as the sixth inning.

“We couldn’t get him in,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien post-game, “that was the story of the game.”

“Newburyport took advantage of a couple of walks that hurt us,” said Coach O’Brien referencing Newburyport’s two-run fifth inning. “They got the timely hit.”

Evan Balian paced Lynnfield with two hits.

Spencer Riley hit a part of the leftfield fence in the fourth inning in a section of fencing that doesn’t exist in most of the rest of the field. Could have gone out if it wasn’t pulled so much. He had to settle for a double.

Newburyport pitcher Owen Tahnk remembered it: “That double off the fence was a scare.”

Owen limited Lynnfield to five hits and yielded only two walks.

“His limiting the walks was important,” said Coach Rowe.

Owen had six strikeouts getting two each in the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th innings. In each of those innings the Pioneers had runners in scoring position.

“My slider and curve were working well today,” said Owen. “I got grounders and fly balls on off-speed pitches.”

Coach O’Brien: “We’re back to ground zero after getting a nice win the other day.”

Ryan Archer: “Our goal every day is to go 1-0. We have two games coming up and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

I didn’t hear the news, but I saw the news. The players weren’t wearing masks! Is this where I say, “It’s about time!” and give away my politics?

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

Baserunner Michael Habib and SS Henry Caulfield

Aidan Burke out stealing as Tony Lucci takes throw

Nick White had one of the three Newburyport hits

2B Jack Bird tries for a force at second

Ryan Archer about to be tagged out by SS Henry Caulfield

Trent Balian slides into 3B in the second inning

CF Luke Martinho made some nice running catches

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Filed under Lynnfield, Newburyport, Uncategorized

Tagged as Evan Balian, Jake Buontempo, Luke Stallard, Owen Tahnk, Trent Balian

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.)