Tag Archives: Sean Whooley

May 15, 2014 · 10:02 pm

Manchester-Essex outlasts Ipswich 10-9 in Cape Ann League baseball

Hunter Flood in the home run trot. The sophomore had five RBI for the Hornets

Liam Logue drives in the 10th ME run

(Ipswich MA) If there is such a thing as a hitters’ duel this was it.

Both Manchester-Essex and Ipswich took plenty of good hacks but it was the Hornets coming away with a 10-9 win on a warm Thursday afternoon.

The Hornets (4-12) took the lead with a 3-run first inning and never trailed. The Tigers (3-12) were within a run with two runners on in both the 6th and 7th innings. ME sophomore reliever Brad Graves got Austin Rubino to pop out to the catcher ending the 6th while junior closer Craig Carter got an infield grounder from Erik Gongas to finish the game.

Today’s game was the last home game for six Ipswich seniors (Jon O’Brien, Erik Gongas, Freddy Cerendolo, Austin Rubino, Ryan Silva and Sean Whooley) and they were recognized by Coach Gardy O’Flynn before the game.

Manchester-Essex jumped into a 7-2 lead after two innings thanks primarily to Hunter Flood. The ME sophomore drove across two in the first with a single and three in the second with a homer over the leftfield fence.

Mike Loebelenz got the win for Manchester-Essex

Ipswich had eleven hits off of Hornets starter (and winner) Mike Loebelenz through five innings. But the Tigers were never able to get more than two runs in any inning despite all the solid raps and trailed 9-7 after five.

The biggest run in the game was the Hornets’ tenth run. The crucial insurance run came in the 7th inning. Brandon Bartlett walked and pinchrunner Chris Carr stole second. Liam Logue’s two-out single through the left side of the IHS infield brought Chris home.

Senior Sean Whooley had four hits and two rbi in his last game on Mile Lane for Ipswich.

Sophomore Alex Morris also had two rbi to go with three hits.

The good crowd on hand saw a very bizarre second inning. After Sean Whooley singled, Mike Savoie grounded to third. ME third baseman Kevin Carter threw wide to second but Sean didn’t realize he was safe. So as he’s jogging off he’s suddenly caught in a rundown between 2B and 3B. No sooner did Sean get tagged out when Mike Savoie is caught in a rundown between 1B and 2B. Fortunately for Mike, the ME rundown ended with a throw into the woods by catcher Dom Cirone that allowed Mike to reach third.

Dom Cirone (3 hits) camps under a popup

Dom Cirone paced the Hornets scoring three times and getting three hits. Hunter Flood and Ethan Ketchum each had two hits. The ME hit total reached twelve off of IHS starter Ryan Silva and reliever Austin Rubino.

ME rightfielder Chuck Otterbein made a terrific running catch on Freddy Cerendolo’s drive in the gap in the third inning.

Manchester-Essex still has a chance to get into the Division 4 post-season tournament. Only the Hornets games versus D4 opponents count toward making the post-season. The Hornets have three games left with D4 opposition (Cristo Rey, Georgetown, and Rockport). ME has to win two of those games to qualify. It’ll be tough since the Hornets have already lost to Cristo Rey and Georgetown this season.

Dan Bennett looks for the plate

The Tigers defeated ME, 12-3, in an earlier meeting.

Today’s winning pitcher (senior Mike Loebelenz) also had victories over Triton and Hamilton-Wenham this season.

Weather? Comfortably warm with clouds showing up to cool things a bit.

Manchester-Essex box

Ipswich box

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

Sean Whooley (4 hits) in a rundown

Jake Long finds a way home

ME closer Craig Carter (#3)

Freddy Cerendolo

Kevin and Sean Whooley

Chuck Otterbein dives into third

Leftfielder Jake Long eyes the home run ball (upper left)

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Filed under Cape Ann League, Ipswich, Manchester-Essex

Tagged as Austin Morris, Craig Carter, Freddy Cerendolo, Hunter Flood, Liam Logue, Sean Whooley

May 8, 2014 · 11:16 pm

Amesbury holds off Ipswich 2-1 in Cape Ann League baseball

Pat Scanlon scores the second Amesbury run on a close play at the plate.

Ben Cullen gets the first Amesbury run on an infield out

(Ipswich MA) Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning but only one team (Amesbury) came away with runs.

The two runs that the Indians scored in the first inning proved to be the difference as Amesbury defeated Ipswich, 2-1, on a beautiful Thursday afternoon of Cape Ann League baseball.

The victory put an eight-game losing streak to rest for the Indians (4-9).

The Tigers (2-10) wasted a terrific pitching performance by senior Sean Whooley. Sean allowed only four hits and had six strikeouts.

Chris Grady scores on a hit by Mike Savoie

The missing ingredient for Ipswich on this day was big hits. By “big hits” I mean ones when there are teammates in scoring position. The only “big hit” for Ipswich was by Mike Savoie in the third inning when he drove in Chris Grady from third. The rest of the opportunities, and there were ten of them, were squandered.

Nick Hawrylciw picked up the win for the Indians with a complete-game, six-hitter. The senior stranded ten runners.

His biggest pitch of the game? His last one. The Tigers had runners on second and third with two out. Austin Rubino was the batter with a 3-2 count. Nick Hawrylciw’s pitch hit Austin but to everyone’s surprise Austin was called out. Why? Batter’s interference. I spoke with both umpires afterwards and they explained that the batter (Austin) had leaned into the strike zone when he got hit therefore the pitch was called a strike. It ended the game with Nick Hawrylciw getting credited with a strikeout.

Austin Rubino about to be called for batter interference

Amesbury capitalized on Ipswich miscues to get their two runs in the first inning. The Indians started off the first with Ben Cullen getting hit by a pitch, Pat Scanlon reaching on an error (Chris Grady), and Mac Short walking. Nick Hawrylciw’s fielder’s choice brought Ben Cullen across. Then pitcher Sean Whooley’s pitch in the dirt escaped catcher Jon O’Brien and Pat Scanlon was able to slide into home on a very close play.

Twice during the game Amesbury was able to pull their infield in and prevent runs from scoring on groundouts.

Ben Cullen tries for third base.

Amesbury sent only twelve batters to the plate in the final four innings. In a bizarre fifth inning, the Indians had two hits (Chris Chioffi and Ben Cullen) but both runners were thrown out by IHS catcher Jon O’Brien.

In the seventh inning, Ipswich had a great chance to tie the game. First batter Dan Bennett walked but then was picked off first. Sure enough, next batter Sean Whooley singled, and after a popout, Freddy Cerundolo doubled. Minus the pickoff, the Tigers have tied the game.

Leftfielder Alex Morris about to make a running catch

Alex Morris paced Ipswich with two hits. He also made a great catch to end the second inning.

CAL All-League catcher Mac Short blocked a number of pitches in the dirt.

Ipswich won the earlier meeting between the two teams, 6-3, on April 18th.

Both teams return to action on Saturday morning. Ipswich hosts Rockport and Amesbury hosts Manchester-Essex.

Ipswich has now lost seven straight games.

Weather? Absolutely perfect.

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

Sean Whooley

Mike Savoie

Chris Chioffi

Nick Hawrylciw

Pickoff attempt

Chris Chioffi out stealing

Chris Grady bunts

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Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Ipswich

Tagged as Ben Cullen, Nick Hawrylciw, Pat Scanlon, Sean Whooley

May 14, 2013 · 9:19 pm

Sean Whooley 2-hits Amesbury in Ipswich 4-0 shutout

Sean Whooley pitched a 2-hitter, had two hits, scored a run, and drove in a run.

Sean Whooley tracks down a bunt attempt

(Amesbury) In years to come, when the talk around the water cooler turns to the Ipswich Tigers’ 2013 season, I strongly suspect that their games with Amesbury will get mentioned.

Why? The Tigers defeated Amesbury twice and didn’t allow a run in either game.

Today, was the second win as Ipswich (4-10) put pitching, hitting, and defense together in a perfect package and shut out Amesbury, 4-0, on a cool Tuesday afternoon of Cape Ann League baseball.

Ipswich starter Sean Whooley allowed just two hits (Zack Fitzgerald and John Pesci) picking up his second victory of the season.

Mac Short – robbed by Ryan Silva

Sean struck out just one batter so the outs were made in other ways. On this day, the Ipswich defense made numerous big plays highlighted by a run-saving stab by leftfielder Ryan Silva in the corner off Mac Short in the Amesbury sixth.

The Tigers collected ten hits off of Amesbury’s first-time starter Devlin Gobeil getting at least one in every inning. Josh Guertin, Sean Whooley, and Austin Rubino each had two hits for the visitors.

Ipswich scored its first run in the second inning. Austin Rubino doubled to left with one out and came home on Eric Gongas’ single to center.

In the fourth inning, Sean Whooley singled, stole second, and reached third on a wild pitch. Ryan Law drove Sean home with a bullet single to center.

Shawn Bannon takes in a foul popup

Despite all the hits, Sean Whooley’s pitching, and the tight defense, the Tigers lead was only, 2-0, through six innings. Let’s toss a cliché’ out here: it was still anyone’s ballgame!

But in the seventh Ipswich added two more runs. Josh Guertin was hit by a pitch with two outs. Josh then stole second and came home on Kyle Barber’s double over John Pesci’s head in rightfield. Sean Whooley singled to left bringing Kyle Barber in with the fourth Tiger run.

That four-run lead held up through the Amesbury seventh.

Amesbury (7-8) hit the ball hard a couple of times with nothing to show for it. Devlin Gobeil nearly reached the fence in straightaway center in the second but Ryan Law tracked it down. Twice the Indians lined to third baseman Josh Guertin. One of those line drives turned into a double play.

Kyle Barber crosses home with the fourth Ipswich run

The heartbreaker for Amesbury, however, was Mac Short’s rope in the sixth. Tommy Connors was on first with two outs when the Amesbury catcher lasered a ball toward the leftfield corner. Ryan Silva had a great jump on it and stabbed it near the 344-foot sign to end the inning. If that ball lands, Tommy Connors would have scored and Mac Short would have been on second. The score would have been, 2-1, instead of 2-0 with the inning over.

Sean Whooley has now allowed two earned runs in nineteen innings. For those doing the ERA math at home: earned runs (2) divided by innings pitched (19) times nine, means that Sean’s current ERA is 0.74. That is awfully good!

In the first Ipswich/Amesbury game, the biggest play in the Tigers win was a seventh inning, game-ending catch in leftfield by Dan D’Agostino off the bat of, you guessed it, Mac Short.

Ipswich catcher Henry Sacco had his left arm in a sling. He injured the shoulder sliding into second in the Hamilton-Wenham game on Monday. Eric Gongas was the catcher for Ipswich in today’s game.

Alex Amoroso was tagged out at home in the fifth inning by Mac Short on a very close play. Here are four pictures of the play:

The Tigers have now won two straight after losing six straight and will face Rockport at Rockport on Thursday.

Amesbury will look to end a two-game losing streak at Manchester-Essex on Thursday.

Ipswich boxscore

Amesbury boxscore

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

Austin Rubina and Zack Fitzgerald

Eric Gongas prepares to throw out John Pesci at first

Shortstop Mike Savoie fires to first for the final out

Josh Guertin

Sean Whooley handles a popup

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Filed under Amesbury, Ipswich

Tagged as Alex Amoroso, Austin Rubino, Devlin Gobeil, Eric Gongas, Josh Guertin, Kyle Barber, Mac Short, Sean Whooley

April 30, 2013 · 8:47 pm

Evan Habib pitches 3-hit shutout as Newburyport downs Ipswich 3-0

Evan Habib congratulated by catcher Connor Wile after pitching a 3-hit shutout against Ipswich

Connor Wile races home with the third Newburyport run

(Ipswich) Evan Habib tossed a 3-hit shutout as Newburyport defeated Ipswich, 3-0, on a very pleasant Tuesday afternoon.

Evan (making his second start) permitted only one runner to reach second and issued only two walks. The defense behind him was flawless.

The Clippers (4-4) took advantage of four Tigers errors to get the runs needed for the win.

Ipswich pitching (Ryan Law and Sean Whooley) was solid and allowed only four hits but the defense did in the Tigers (2-6).

Newburyport picked up it’s first run in the third inning. Three Ipswich errors (Josh Guertin, Sean Whooley, Mike Savoie) set up Ian Michaels for the first Clippers score. On Colton Fontaine’s single to deep short, Ian reached third and kept going home as the throw from short to first was low.

Colton Fontaine ready to put the tag on Alex Amoroso

This was a one-run game into the top of the sixth inning with the outcome far from figured out.

In the sixth, Ipswich starter Ryan Law gave up a single to Colton Fontaine and a walk to Connor Wile. Ipswich coach Gardy O’Flynn brought in Sean Whooley to replace Ryan. Sean got Colby Morris to pop out but next batter Connor MacRae lofted a long fly to right center. Rightfielder Austin Rubino raced after it but the ball bounced off his glove and both Colton Fontaine and Connor Wile crossed home. Connor MacRae ended up at third.

Connor MacRae had two hits.

In Connor MacRae’s two previous at-bats he had singled down the rightfield line each time. In the Connor’s third at-bat (in the sixth inning), rightfielder Austin Rubino was positioned closer to the line. That placement cost him a couple of steps as Connor’s deep fly went to right center.

Sean Whooley was able to get the next two batters (Mike Sweeney and Ryan Furlong) to ground out. The damage, however, had been done.

The Tigers had tough luck in the fourth inning after Alex Amoroso singled and reached second on a passed ball. Alex was on the move toward third when teammate Henry Sacco hit a grounder directly to third baseman Colton Fontaine. Colton had plenty of time to tag Alex and then throw to first to complete the double play.

Ipswich has now lost four of their last five.

Colton Fontaine and Connor MacRae each had two hits for the Clippers. Colton also had two stolen bases.

Jordan Thibault

Alex Amoroso, Jordan Thibault, and Austin Rubino had singles for Ipswich.

Newburyport turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the third inning.

The Tigers had a double play in the fourth when shortstop Mike Savoie speared Ryan Furlong’s liner and Connor MacRae was picked off second to end that inning.

The weather was terrific for late April.

This game took less than two hours to play.

On Thursday Newburyport will host Manchester-Essex while Ipswich visits Triton.

Newburyport boxscore

Ipswich boxscore

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

Ian Michaels scores the first NHS run

Henry Sacco

Newburyport coach Steve Malenfant

Brian Fiascone handles the middle of a 5-4-3 double play.

Sean Whooley

Connor Wile chases an infield nubber

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Filed under Ipswich, Newburyport

Tagged as Alex Amoroso, Connor MacRae, Connor Wile, Evan Habib, Ryan Law, Sean Whooley

April 16, 2013 · 6:24 pm

Opportunistic Ipswich defeats Amesbury 2-0 in Cape Ann League baseball

The Ipswich Tigers congratulate leftfielder Dan DAgostino on his game-ending catch

Winning pitcher Alex Amoroso tossed a 3-hitter.

(Ipswich) Ipswich made two unearned runs stand up as they defeated Amesbury, 2-0, on a sunny Tuesday morning in Cape Ann League baseball action.

The Tigers (1-2) were limited to three hits by Amesbury’s Andy Reidy but took advantage of extra at-bats, due to errors, in the third and fifth innings to get the runs they needed.

Ipswich starter Alex Amoroso was the MVP (in my opinion) for the Tigers. The IHS senior scattered three singles over six innings, scored the first Ipswich run, and drove in the second run.

Although Alex scattered three singles there are other ways to get on base and Amesbury used them. In five different innings the Indians had runners in scoring position but a clutch hit never surfaced.

Amesbury had their best scoring chance in the fourth inning. Devlin Gobiel reached on Ipswich shortstop Mike Savoie’s error and Zack Fitzgerald (two hits) followed with a walk. A fielder’s choice by Jack Fortin left runners on first and third with one out. Jack then stole second but Alex Amoroso escaped without any damage as he got both Adam Ivancic and Ben Cullen to pop out.

Ipswich took the lead in the third inning. Alex Amoroso reached first when third baseman Zack Fitzgerald couldn’t field his grounder with two outs. Two pitcher/catcher problems allowed Alex to get to third. Henry Sacco lined a single to left driving home the first Tigers run.

Sean Whooley leads off third

In the fifth, Ipswich got a second tainted run. Sean Whooley started the inning doubling over Adam Ivancic’s head in left. Dan D’Agostino followed with a bunt attempt. Catcher Mac Short’s throw to first was dropped by second baseman Tommy Connors. (Runners were now on first and third with no outs.) Ipswich coach Gardy O’Flynn put both runners in motion and Alex Amoroso’s grounder to short delivered Sean Whooley from third with the second run.

Sophomore shortstop Mike Savoie had three assists in the second inning. Senior Josh Guertin had three assists in the fifth inning.

Ryan Law earned a save with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. The final out, however, was a bit of an adventure. Mac Short hit a fly ball down the left field line and the combination of a tough sun, and a long way to run, spelled potential trouble for Ipswich. Shortstop Mike Savoie and left fielder Dan D’Agostino came full-speed into the same area and at the last second Dan made the catch to end the game.

Catcher Mac Short fires to first

Amesbury catcher Mac Short was a Cape Ann League All-Star in 2012.

The Tigers next game will be hosting Rockport on Saturday at 10AM. Amesbury will host Manchester-Essex on the same day and at the same time.

Ipswich boxscore

Amesbury boxscore

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

Dan DAgostino catches the last out

Matt Napoli

Henry Sacco drove in first Ipswich run

Alex Amoroso heads for home

Zack Fitzgerald (two hits)

Tommy Connors

Ryan Law earned a save

Devlin Gobiel steals second

Andy Reidy

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Filed under Amesbury, Ipswich

Tagged as Alex Amoroso, Andy Reidy, Henry Sacco, Mac Short, Ryan Law, Sean Whooley, Zack Fitzgerald

November 2, 2012 · 7:02 pm

Ipswich boys soccer advances in Division 3 North defeating Whittier 4-1

Ipswich (in white) put plenty of pressure on Whittier netminder Jon Hewey.

Ryan Law (two goals)

(Ipswich) The Ipswich Tigers (#14 seed) boys soccer team dominated Whittier (#19 seed) from beginning to end and defeated the visitors, 4-1, on a cloudy Friday afternoon in Division 3 North MIAA tournament play.

The Tigers (8-6-4) now advance to a First Round game with #3 seed Lowell Catholic on Sunday afternoon (1PM) at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Whittier (7-10-2) qualified for the tournament by winning the small division of the Commonwealth Conference while Ipswich needed to win its last two regular season games to qualify.

Ipswich, playing its final home game of 2012, put shots on Wildcat goalie Jon Hewey early and often. The senior net minder was the reason the final deficit was only three.

The Tigers had goals from Ryan Law and David Dick in the first half. Slater Sullivan and Ryan Law tallied in the second half.

Sean Whooley (14) chases Jacob Fudge (23)

Even though the final margin was three goals, this was a 2-1 game at halftime because late in the first half Jacob Fudge scored for Whittier. Jacob broke free down the right side and beat Tiger goalie Erik Fyrer to the far corner.

In a one-goal game anything can happen. Right away in the second half Jacob had a good look at the equalizer, but this time the Tiger goalie made the save.

Thereafter it was the Tigers back to pressuring the Wildcat end. Ipswich had three corners and two direct kicks in the next seven minutes. Slater Sullivan cashed in the second direct kick (by Sam Benford) at 29:48 to give the Tigers a two-goal edge.

Eleven minutes later (18:49) senior Ryan Law put in a rebound of a shot by David Dick to make it 4-1.

In the first half, Ryan Law opened the scoring for Ipswich (11:44) benefiting from a beautiful setup by sophomore Sam Benford.

David Dick fires a shot.

Two minutes later (9:39) David Dick struck a shot on net low that GK Jon Hewey went down for. The shot bounced over the Wildcat goalie’s hands to give Ipswich a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers were very much in control of the center of the field most of the game thanks to the tireless, aggressive play of Slater Sullivan, David Dick, and Sean Whooley.

Busy day at the site of the game – boys tournament soccer game (2:30), girls tournament soccer game (4:15), and football game (7).

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