Tag Archives: Shea Cucinotta

May 29, 2022 · 8:26 pm

Amesbury wins Spofford Tourney 6-2 over Georgetown

Amesbury wins the 2022 Spofford Tournament

(Georgetown) You can’t always tell the end from the beginning.

Amesbury starter Aiden Donovan hit the first two Georgetown batters, walked the next one, and gave up a two-run single to Jack Lucido in the first inning.

Georgetown scored two runs in the first inning.

I’m not sure you could have a worse beginning.

But at the end the final score was 6-2 in favor of Amesbury.

Amesbury won the two-day Spofford Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Georgetown.

After the shaky start, Aiden Donovan retired the next three batters he faced to limit the damage to two runs. Over the next five innings, he only allowed two baserunners (on walks). That first-inning single was the only hit he allowed. Talk about a recovery!

“Credit to (Aiden) Donovan,” said Georgetown coach Phil Desilets afterwards. “He settled down. He got in a groove, and we couldn’t get anything going against him.”

Trevor Kimball scored the third Amesbury run in the first inning

Georgetown found its own share of trouble in the first inning. A walk, a hit batsman, and two errors opened up opportunities for Amesbury.

Tourney MVP Shea Cucinotti delivered the first Amesbury run with a sacrifice fly and Aiden Donovan’s blooper to rightfield delivered two more.

Zach Gilmore took over pitching for the Royals in the second inning and quieted Amesbury for three straight innings.

The Amesbury fifth inning was a different story. Shea Cucinotta started things with a single and then Drew Scialdone homered over the 342 foot sign in left center.

Drew Scialdone hit a two-run homer in the 5th inning

“It was an outside pitch, but I pulled it,” said Drew afterwards. “I thought it was a popup, but I’ll take the home run.”

“If you have a lead, you always want to work to extend it and put more pressure on the other team,” he added. “We were able to do that today.”

“Drew’s homer put us in a nice position,” said Amesbury coach Joel Brierley post-game.

Amesbury increased its comfort zone with a run in the sixth inning. Cam Stanley beat out an infield hit and scored when Jake Harring found the gap in left center.

Coach Brierley brought in Trevor Kimball in the last inning and three straight strikeouts later Amesbury had the victory.

“I thought Aiden (Donovan) pitched awesome today,” said Coach Brierley. “We knew that he would settle down. Very proud of what he did today.”

Senior Shea Cucinotta was selected as the tourney MVP. “I think that this award is about our team, but it means a lot to me,” said Shea. “Everyone played very well. There were tons of hits and great plays in the field. I think we’re in for a heckuva playoff run.”

Amesbury finishes 16-4 in Division 4 and are currently at the top of the Power Rankings. The pairings for the tournament come out this week. If Amesbury lasts, they are assured of home games until the Final Four.

Georgetown finishes 10-10 in Division 5 and are currently fifth in the Power Rankings. That could change because of their win over Newburyport on Saturday.

“We have to turn the page from today’s loss,” said Coach Desilets, “have a great week of practice and get ready for the playoffs.”

“It’s one game at a time from here on out,” he added. “It’s the best time to be playing ball.”

One of the best defensive plays of this game was made by pitcher Zach Gilmore. A foul popup behind the plate looked likely to fall in but Zach raced off the mound to make the catch.

Amesbury pitching (Drew MacDonald, Aiden Donovan, Trevor Kimball) gave up only one hit in the tournament.

Georgetown 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 2

Amesbury 3 0 0 0 2 1 – = 6

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Filed under Amesbury, Georgetown

Tagged as Aiden Donovan, Drew Scialdone, Jack Lucido, Shea Cucinotta

May 28, 2022 · 7:25 pm

Drew MacDonald leads Amesbury past Triton 5-1

(Georgetown) If this isn’t his best game it’s got to be awfully close to it.

Impressive performance by Drew MacDonald leading Amesbury past Triton, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon in the rain-shortened opening round of the Spofford Tournament.

The Amesbury senior drove in three of his team’s five runs and pitched a five-inning, no-hitter.

Amesbury (15-4) faces Georgetown in the title game tomorrow afternoon (2PM).

The Vikings (11-8) took a one-run lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. Cole Daniels reached on an infield error and scored after a wild pitch, a stolen base, and another wild pitch.

Cole Daniels scores the Triton run on a wild pitch

Triton’s DJ Watson had limited Amesbury to two hits going into the fourth inning.

However, in the fourth inning a single (Drew Scialdone) and a double (Trevor Kimball) set Drew MacDonald up for a two-run single to give Amesbury the, 2-1, lead.

Unfortunate decisions cost Triton in the fifth inning. On two occasions, batters reached on infield grounders when plays at other bases backfired.

Shea Cucinotta’s single in that inning drove across Luke Arsenault and Jake Harring. Later, an infield grounder by Drew MacDonald scored Drew Scialdone with Amesbury’s fifth run.

And then the incoming dark clouds, with accompanying thunder, put a pause to the game. The game never resumed and Amesbury had itself a 5-1 win.

And Drew had himself a no-hitter.

Drew ended up walking two and striking out six.

The defensive gem on this afternoon belonged to Triton centerfielder Cole Daniels. Leadoff batter Jake Harring looked to have hit a ball into the left/centerfield gap, but Cole ran it down and dove to finish a terrific play.

Drew Scialdone and Drew MacDonald led Amesbury’s seven-hit attack with two hits each.

The twosome also had a “hit” in the first inning as they collided going after a popup in the first inning.

Shea Cucinotta tagged out by Triton 2B Connor Rumph

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Tagged as Cole Daniels, Drew MacDonald, Drew Scialdone, Shea Cucinotta

May 24, 2022 · 9:39 pm

Amesbury seniors lead to 13-4 win over Hamilton-Wenham

(Amesbury) It’s your day, why not put on a show!

Drew MacDonald, Shea Cucinotta, Cam Stanley

And that’s what the three Amesbury seniors did on Senior Day.

Amesbury defeated Hamilton-Wenham, 13-4, on Tuesday afternoon.

Drew MacDonald had five RBI.

Shea Cucinotta had four hits.

Cam Stanley scored three times.

Each of the Amesbury seniors led the category they were mentioned in.

The win evened the season’s series with the (10-9) Generals.

Three weeks ago, HW defeated Amesbury, 2-1, at Patton Park in Hamilton.

“In that 2-1 loss, we left a lot of runners on base,” recalled Amesbury coach Joel Brierley afterwards. “We had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh and couldn’t score.”

“Today, when we got runners on base we scored them,” he added.

Amesbury (14-4) had thirteen hits and received five walks in their six innings at the plate.

Junior Connor McClintock led the Generals with three hits and two RBI. Only a leaping catch by Amesbury shortstop Shea Cucinotta in the fifth inning kept Connor from having four hits.

Connor also impressed on defense. The HW centerfielder showed good lateral range robbing Drew MacDonald of extra bases in the third inning. Later, he rushed in to take a hit away from Jake Harring on a sinking line drive.

“No question, Connor is good,” said HW coach Reggie Maidment afterwards. “We’re glad he’s on our side.”

Connor led off the game with a triple and was driven home by Nick Freni. In the second inning, Connor came up with two runners on and delivered both of them.

Amesbury was able to match the Generals’ run in the first inning with a Drew MacDonald RBI single.

Amesbury picked up three runs in their second inning. Jake Harring had a two-run double and Drew Scialdone had a sacrifice fly.

So, it was 4-3 after two innings in a game that looked to have a high-scoring future.

That future became a reality for Amesbury but not for Hamilton-Wenham.

Amesbury starter Trevor Kimball settled in over the next four innings allowing just one hit (Nick Freni) and one run.

Amesbury gained separation with a five-run fourth inning.

Cam Stanley – scored 3 runs and had 2 hits

“We had one tough inning,” said Coach Maidment referring to that inning. “We made a few mistakes. Against a lineup like Amesbury’s, you can’t do that or it’s going to hurt you.”

Amesbury batted around in their productive fifth inning. The big hit was Drew MacDonald’s bases-clearing double. Will Arsenault and Shea Cucinotta drove in single runs.

Amesbury picked up an unearned run in the sixth inning and batted around (again) to collect three more runs in their sixth inning.

“This was probably one of our best team performances of the season,” said Coach Brierley post-game. “Trevor threw strikes and got a lot of outs. Our defense was good, and we hit the ball.”

Today’s game featured two of the best teams in the state in Division 4. Amesbury is ranked second while Hamilton-Wenham is fourth in the MIAA Power Rankings that came out May 23rd.

The two teams could face each other again but this time in the post-season. Being so highly ranked, that possible next meeting would probably be somewhere in Final Four territory.

It was indeed a big day for Amesbury’s three seniors. The trio scored six runs, had nine hits, and drove in eight runs.

Hamilton-Wenham 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 = 4

Amesbury 1 3 0 5 1 3 – = 13

The weather became less comfortable as the afternoon wore on.

Trevor Kimball gave up four hits and four runs.

Amesbury coach Joel Brierley busy coaching third

Luke Arsenault scores Amesbury’s fifth run

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Filed under Amesbury, Hamilton-Wenham

Tagged as Cam Stanley, Coach Joel Brierley, Coach Reggie Maidment, Connor McClintock, Drew MacDonald, Shea Cucinotta, Trevor Kimball

May 10, 2022 · 10:40 pm

Amesbury gets strong pitching/hitting in 9-3 win over North Reading

Drew Scialdone (with Coach Brierley) had three hits and four RBI

(Amesbury) Amesbury (9-4) got excellent pitching and hitting and defeated North Reading, 9-3, on Tuesday afternoon.

Trevor Kimball went the distance and the Amesbury hitters had ten hits.

“Amesbury is a really good team especially with (Trevor) Kimball on the mound,” said NR coach Eric Archambault afterwards.

Trevor had eight strikeouts and ended each of the final four innings with K’s.

The Hornets (7-6) left baserunners in all seven innings. “We had our chances,” said Coach Archambault, “and we might have gained some momentum with some timely hitting.”

Drew Scialdone and Shea Cucinotta carried the Amesbury offense.

Drew was three-for-four, scored twice, and drove in four runs.

Shea also had three hits. In his other at-bat the AIC commit walked. He scored four runs.

“When guys are on base, you have to be a timely hitter and knock them in,” said Drew post-game.

“In my second at-bat I told myself not to swing at a curve,” he added. “But I got two strikes on me and so I took a swing at a curve and got a hit.”

“Drew has been awesome for us,” said Coach Brierley. “He’s hitting over .500 and has great confidence.”

Amesbury jumped ahead in the first as Drew’s double scored Shea.

In the third inning, Drew’s single (off a curve) produced one run and Will Arsenault’s single brought home two more.

Nick Doucette’s single in the fourth inning delivered Ryan McCullough. That lessened the NR deficit to 4-1.

Amesbury responded with their biggest inning of the game. Drew was again in the middle of the hitting attack. This time it was a single that drove home Luke Arsenault and Jake Harring. Trouble in the NR outfield led to two more runs in that productive fourth inning.

The Hornets put three hits together in their fifth inning. Ryan Baker and Aldo Vittozzi had RBI. Matt Ryan (who had three hits) scored one of North Reading’s two runs.

Trevor held the Hornets scoreless in the final two innings.

“He (Trevor) mixed his pitches, threw strikes, and commanded the zone,” said Coach Archambault.

“Trevor was phenomenal,” added Coach Brierley. “He was throwing breaking balls for strikes and he was keeping his fastball low.”

Second baseman Jake Harring made a nice play behind second base on a grounder at the start of the North Reading fifth.

“Our defense, for the most part, made the plays,” said Jake.

Amesbury has three straight wins over North Reading.

North Reading is now 0-5 on the road. “We’ve got to get back to the lab and turn things around,” said Coach Archambault.

Amesbury is now 6-2 in the Cape Ann League while the Hornets drop to 4-5.

A common occurrence in most of the games I’ve covered is that the visiting team arrives late, as North Reading did today. The reason is almost always the same one, getting a bus.

The weather was cold, windy, and unpleasant. I’m hearing of 80’s on Saturday. Now won’t that be nice!

North Reading 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 = 3

Amesbury 1 0 3 4 0 1 – = 9

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Drew Scialdone tries to score on a passed ball. Catcher Alex Carucci applies the tag for the out.

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Filed under Amesbury, North Reading

Tagged as Coach Eric Archambault, Coach Joel Brierley, Drew Scialdone, Matt Ryan, Shea Cucinotta, Trevor Kimball

May 27, 2021 · 10:09 pm

Last-inning rally earns Amesbury 6-5 walk-off win vs Lynnfield

Shea Cucinotta (white helmet) singled in the game winner for Amesbury

(Amesbury MA) Lynnfield gave Amesbury (6-3) too many chances and it finally caught up to them in the last inning.

The Pioneers had issued seven walks and had hit two batters through six innings. However, they had a 5-3 lead.

That lead vanished after the Indians got two more walks in their half of the seventh. Senior Tiernan Bentley drove both walkers (Tim Gilleo & Trevor Kimball) in to tie the score.

“I haven’t been hitting all that well this season,” said Tiernan afterwards. “It felt good to get one.”

Two hit-batsmen followed (Luke Arsenault & Jake Harring) loading the bases with one out and Shea Cucinotta the batter. Shea had a hit the previous inning.

With a chance to seal the outcome, Shea delivered a shot to the outfield that scored pinchrunner Donovan Landry and the celebrating began for Amesbury’s 6-5 walk-off win.

Pinchrunner Donovan Landry home with the game winner

“I’m not going to lie,” explained Shea, “I was a little nervous coming up in that situation. My heart was beating out of my chest! I knew that I just had to put the ball out there somewhere to score the run. It felt great.”

“Give Amesbury credit,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien post-game. “They hung in there and got the big hit when they needed it.”

“We just can’t walk people and hit people,” added Coach O’Brien. “You need to throw strikes and let the guys make the plays.”

Despite the loss, Lynnfield senior Evan Balian had an impressive afternoon. He came to bat in the seventh inning with a chance to hit for the cycle.

Evan hit a homer (3^rd inning) over the rightfield fence and a triple (fifth inning) over the rightfielder’s head. He had a single in the first inning. Evan had three RBI.

A key moment in this game was the Lynnfield seventh. The Pioneers (3-6) had the two-run lead but Amesbury reliever Tiernan Bentley was able to retire the side in order. Tiernan got the dangerous Evan to ground out to first to end that inning.

Tiernan Bentley drove in 2 runs in the 7th to tie the score

“Coach (Brierley) told me to go out there and throw strikes and that’s exactly what I did,” said Tiernan.

Lynnfield got two runs in the top of the first. An RBI by Evan Balian and a wild throw to third on a steal attempt accounted for the LHS runs.

The Indians managed to get both those runs back thanks to six walks and a hit batsman in the first two innings. They did strand six runners.

“We gave them runs early and we left the bases loaded in the first two innings,” said Coach Joel Brierley. “We have to do better.”

The Pioneers got out of that second inning on an unusual play. Tim Gilleo’s popup into short left attracted both 3B Trent Balian and SS Nick Razzaboni. The fielders collided but Nick was able to stick out his hand and make a diving catch to save multiple runs from scoring.

Tim Pivero started the third inning in relief of starter Blake Peters. A nice throw (LF Aidan Burke) and tag (catcher Evan Balian) nailed Trevor Kimball at the plate for the final out of that inning.

Lynnfield built their lead to 5-2 in the sixth. A wild pitch (Drew Scialdone) allowed Luke Martinho to score. RF Luke Arsenault tossed out Nick Razzaboni at the plate trying to score on Jack Bird’s single, to record the final out of the inning.

Amesbury got that run back with a Luke Arsenault triple and a sacrifice fly by Jake Harring in their half of the sixth inning.

Amesbury then took advantage of the walks and HPB’s in the 7^th and rallied to earn a walk-off win.

The Indians collected all their six hits in the final four innings.

“Once we get to see a pitcher for a second or third time, that’s when we score our runs,” explained Coach Brierley. “Even when we’re down, I know we’ll find ways to score.”

“We wanted the top of our order (Jake Harring, Shea Cucinotta, Jeremy Lopez) to get up in that final inning,” said Coach Brierley. “The walks and hit-batsmen enabled it to happen.”

Winning pitcher Tiernan Bentley is a senior. “I plan to go to UConn in the fall and play rugby.”

Lynnfield starter Blake Peters collected two hits. “Blake has pitched three or four really nice games,” said Coach O’Brien. “It wasn’t his day today.”

Trevor Kimball started for Amesbury.

Weather was good with low 80’s and a breeze.

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

Shea Cucinotta up with the bases loaded in the 7th

Trevor Kimball scores the tying run in the 7th

Pitcher Tim Pivero beats Drew MacDonald to 1B

Luke Arsenault scores the 3rd Amesbury run

Blake Peters had two hits and scored two runs

Aidan Burke scores the first Lynnfield run

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Filed under Amesbury, Lynnfield

Tagged as Aidan Burke, Evan Balian, Jake Harring, Shea Cucinotta, Tiernan Bentley

May 25, 2021 · 11:27 pm

Amesbury scores ten runs in the first inning and defeats Ipswich 15-5

Shortstop Shea Cucinotta saw his first action today in Amesbury’s big win

Evan Stein scores the second Ipswich run

(Amesbury MA) Ipswich was coming off their first win.

Amesbury was coming off two tough late-inning losses.

Two teams trending in opposite directions.

And Ipswich kept trending in a positive direction with a three-spot in the top of the first inning.

But that’s where it ended for the Tigers.

Amesbury responded with ten runs in their half of the first inning and cruised from there to a 15-5 victory.

The mercy rule kicked in during the Amesbury fifth inning.

“We needed this after last week,” said AHS coach Joel Brierley afterwards. “However, we didn’t plan on beginning the way we did today.”

“We started today thinking that we would win,” said shortstop Shea Cucinotta post-game. “You just can’t take a team for granted. But we did pull together and get a victory.”

Special game for Shea because it was his first of the season. The Cape Ann League All-Star has been missed by the Indians (5-3) for sure.

“Now we have Shea back as well as our senior catcher (Tim Gilleo),” said Coach Brierley. “So we have a couple of weeks to put everything together before the tournament.”

The Amesbury hitting has been good and continued to be just that today.

The Indians had fourteen hits to go with the fifteen runs in only 4+ innings.

Eight of the nine AHS starters had hits. Luke Arsenault had three hits, while Trevor Kimball and Jake Harring added two hits.

The biggest hit in the game may well have been Jeremy Lopez’s in the big first inning. The Amesbury senior cleared the bases with a two-out triple to right.

That opening inning had all sorts of nightmarish ingredients for the Tigers (1-8). There were two outfield errors, two hit batsmen, and two walks. That’s a mix that will get a team in serious trouble for sure………and it did in the visitors.

Ipswich was coming off an exciting 9-8, last-inning, win over Pentucket. Their bats were still hot at the outset of today’s game.

Two batters in they had a run after Finn MacLennon doubled and Evan Stein singled. A few batters later Wes Smith drove in another run with a single. A fielder’s choice (Jake Reily) led to the third run.

Jeremy Lopez drove in 3 runs and scored 2 runs

Great start for Ipswich but it didn’t continue. AHS starter Drew MacDonald pitched clean innings in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings. Tiernan Bentley took care of things in the 4^th and 5^th innings.

The Indians needed a run in their fifth inning to activate the mercy rule. They got what they needed. Will Arsenault doubled. Josh Sorgini’s fielder’s choice moved Will to 3B. Tiernan Bentley’s single brought home the game-ending run.

“We came out here and we wanted to have some fun today and that’s what we did,” explained Drew MacDonald.

Drew claimed that he knew the source of Amesbury’s good hitting. “We’ve been having Jeremy’s older brother throw some BP. I think he’s our good-luck charm now.”

Shea Cucinotta was excited to be playing again after being injured playing football. “It was great to go out there with the boys. I missed it. Getting in for the next half of the season is going to be real good. I was a little rusty out there today, but it feels good to be moving again.”

Ipswich finished with six hits. Wes Smith had two of them to go with an RBI.

The Indians added three runs to their ten runs in the second inning. Jake Harring’s double brought in two of the runs.

Ipswich had single runs in the fourth (Finn MacLennon rbi) and the fifth (Drew Lane rbi).

Jake Harring, Shea Cucinotta, Jeremy Lopez, Drew Scialdone, Aidan Donovan, and Luke Arsenault each scored twice.

Jake Reily started for Ipswich and gave way to Drew Lane in the first inning.

The weather was splendid. Temperatures were in the 70’s with a nice breeze.

There will be a tournament at the end of the season. “It will be different this year because any team, no matter what their record is, can be in the tournament,” said Coach Brierley. “We want to be over .500 and deserve to be there.”

The tournament won’t START until June 15^th. Amesbury gets out of school on June 17^th. “Our guys are completely okay will playing after school is over,” said Coach Brierley.

Amesbury faced Ipswich at Ipswich a week ago. Drew MacDonald pitched a complete-game three hitter with seven strikeouts. AHS won, 11-0.

Nice running catch by Amesbury CF Cam Stanley.

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