LOWELL — Free-swinging and loose, Andover was ready to rip through another postseason foe. John Galvin would have none of it.
Galvin, the ace of the Norwood High staff which allowed just four runs
in a four-game run to the South sectional title, shackled the North
champ Golden Warriors on three hits to claim a 2-1 decision here in the
Division 1 Eastern Mass. championship at LeLacheur Park.
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Baseball, 06/17/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LOWELL — Free-swinging and loose, Andover was ready to rip through another postseason foe. John Galvin would have none of it.
Galvin, the ace of the Norwood High staff which allowed just four runs
in a four-game run to the South sectional title, shackled the North
champ Golden Warriors on three hits to claim a 2-1 decision here in the
Division 1 Eastern Mass. championship at LeLacheur Park.
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Baseball, 06/17/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LYNN — Nothing about this run has come easy to the Andover High baseball team.
Four formidable foes from four different leagues, including top-seeded Peabody — and the Warriors simply mowed each down.
Last night here at Fraser Field, it was Chelmsford falling for the third time to the Warriors this season, 6-3,3 in the Division 1 North title game.
Two wins from a state title, with its first sectional champ trophy in hand for the first time since 2005, Andover made it seven wins in the last eight, improving to 16-8 on the year. Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, the Warriors battle South champion Norwood in the Eastern Mass. championship.
"As a coach, this puts me in some pretty elite company at the school with Ken Maglio and Dave Bettencourt," said Warrior boss Dan Grams. "For the kids, we told them if they win a banner, it's something nobody can take away from them. It's something they can show their kids someday and talk about."
As has been the case just about every time Andover stepped on the field this year, the Warriors found themselves in a dogfight, erasing deficits of 1-0 and 3-2 to pull even on Alex Brickman's sac fly in the fourth.
Andover took over in the bottom of the sixth, a frame that started pretty innocently when E.J. Perry IV backed into a soft curve ball, taking it off his backside.
Perry moved up on a John Cox sacrifice and aggressively took third on a pitch that bounced in the dirt.
Enter shortstop Gabriel Hernandez, who lashed a triple to right center.
"The infield was in, and I was looking to lift something over their heads," said Hernandez.
Before Hernandez had a chance to catch his wind, he trotted home on Pat Pengeroth's triple. And Tim Awiszus piles on the insurance with a sacrifice fly of his own.
So suddenly, Andover led 6-3, and lefty Sam Bennett was in line to pick up his second straight tourney win out of the bullpen, needing three outs.
The southpaw, who stymied Waltham on Wednesday, made quick work of Chelmsford's top of the order with nary a scratch, prompting the celebration to commence.
"This one feels a lot different than hoops," said Hernandez, a key reserve on the Warrior basketball team that fell in the sectional finals at Tsongas Center to rival Central. "This feels unbelievable. It's huge."
Righty Colin Flynn got the start on the mound for the Warriors and delivered an effort that could be best described as determined and courageous.
Relentless attacking the Lions, he worked 5.1 innings, allowing six hits and no walks, while striking out five. None of the three runs he gave up were earned.
Bennett entered a 3-3 game with one on and one out in the Chelmsford sixth, slamming the door shut and allowing his team to rally in the bottom half for the win.
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Baseball, 06/08/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — With Reid Bryant throwing strikes and an offense delivering clutch, two-out hits, the postseason couldn't have gotten off to a better start for Andover — finally.
Breaking a four-game losing streak in sectional openers, the eighth-seeded Golden Warriors rode Bryant's arm to a 4-0 shutout over ninth-seeded Malden Catholic in yesterday's North first round.
The victory marked Andover's first postseason win since a 23-1 rout of Boston English in the 2009 prelims. The Warriors next hit the road to play top-seeded Peabody at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"We're excited, but we're not satisfied yet," said Bryant, who allowed two hits and improved to 3-0 on the season with his 97-pitch, complete-game effort. "We've always said this is the year. We have a pretty good team, and we can make a run in states. That's been our goal since day one."
Bryant was in trouble only once — stranding runners on second and third in the third — while striking out four and walking two. Allowing only three runners past first, he went to a three-ball count to just one batter during the first five innings.
"I don't throw very hard, so I just pitch to contact," Bryant said. "The team makes all the plays, and that's how I pitch."
Andover (13-8) broke through in the third with four consecutive, two-out singles. The biggest hit was Frank Potts' blooper to left that plated Tim Awiszus and Quinn McCarthy, who scored from first. McCarthy also had a huge single on a hit-and-run with a line-drive single to the hole vacated by the second baseman headed to second with Awiszus running on the pitch.
The Warriors added two more in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Jack Cox and Awiszus' two-out RBI single up the middle.
"I can't emphasize enough this being a team," Andover coach Dan Grams said. "I have some very good players. I don't have outstanding players who work well together. I'm very proud of these guys."
Bryant used his breaking ball liberally during the game, inducing Lancer batters to put the ball in play. The infield recorded 11 assists, including an inning-ending double play in the sixth and a pair of putouts.
"He was working the offspeed today, so they were rolling over my way," said third-baseman Potts, who had five assists and a putout. "I made the plays and did what I had to do. It was like Reid did what he had to do on the mound, too. We were definitely solid. That was a tailor-made double play that was huge. And our outfield was huge too."
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Baseball, 05/29/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
With the state tournament about to start, Andover's bats appear to be warming up at the right time. The Warriors smacked Westford 8-1 in the consolation game of the Peabody Tournament as E.J. Perry IV was 3 for 4 with two doubles and was robbed of a home run in his last at-bat, Frank Potts had two doubles and Tommy Kalantzakos had a key RBI hit.
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Baseball, 05/26/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
E.J. Perry IV went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs to lead Andover baseball 7-5 over Salem, N.H.
Matt Meisner stroked three hits and drove in two for Salem.
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Baseball, 05/22/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
In his first start of the year, Reid Bryant pitched a 5-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk and Andover (10-7) beat Bishop Guertin 5-0 to clinch a tourney berth. Frank Potts drove in two runs and collected three hits and now is 8 of his last 10.
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Baseball, 05/21/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Central Catholic may have had its state tourney hopes dashed this week, but Andover High's are alive and well, thanks the Warriors' 6-5 walk-off win over the Raiders yesterday. Down 5-4 in the seventh, Frank Potts rapped an RBI single, and Colin Flynn drove home the game-winner with a base hit to left, all with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Potts had a huge day with three hits, driving in three. Andover is now 9-7 with four games left.
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Baseball, 05/20/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
NORTH ANDOVER — When your baseball team is 4-9, teetering on extinction when it comes to the state tournament, and Andover's Alex Brickman takes your best fastball and launches it some 390-feet the other way for a 2-run homer in the seventh, it might just be time to panic.
"All I did was treating like a new start to the inning," said Central Catholic senior Evan Becht, who like the rest of the afternoon simply refused to buckle.
Still nursing a two-run lead, Becht finished the job, closing out Andover and pumping a little life into the Raiders with a 7-5 victory.
The win kept Central's playoff hopes alive at 5-9 — they'll need to take five of the final six to qualify. It also dented the hopes of the Warriors, who are 8-7 with five games left.
"It's obviously not the start we were looking for or the spot we wanted to be in," said Becht, who was making only his second mound start of the year and suddenly looms huge in the Raiders' mound plans over the season's final nine days.
"We're hanging in there. You could say that we're playing with nothing to lose, and things can only get better."
Becht battled, and that's all Central could have asked for as the Raiders piled up 11 hits in the first four innings.
Sizzling Eddie Orkney, now 7 for his last 13, stroked a pair of doubles for Central, scoring twice and driving in two more. Becht was 3 for 3 himself and battery mate Mike Goglia added a pair of RBI singles as the Raiders built a quick 5-0 lead through three.
Becht gave up three runs in the Warrior fourth but shut it down there, stranding Warriors at second and third and allowing the Raiders to tack two back on in the bottom of the frame for a 7-3 advantage.
"I've never really been a pitcher for this team before, but this has been pretty exciting," said Becht, who finished with a seven-hitter, striking out a pair and walking one. "I'm just trying to take it pitch by pitch. Under the lights last week, I was just pitching on adrenaline, and it carried into today."
Andover junior Gabriel Hernandez gave the Warriors something to rally around with 2.1 scoreless innings of one-hit relief. Six of the seven outs he recorded were via the strikeout. But the damage had been done.
The Warriors did find a way to slow down Central hit machine Kevin Regan (0 for 2), but the senior, now batting an even .500 on the year, was hit twice and scored a pair of runs.
Central remains optimistic that a chance to qualify remains despite the daunting task ahead.
"It's a long road, but I wouldn't call it intimidating," said Becht.
TOURNEY CHASE
Both Andover High and Central Catholic remain in the hunt to try and qualify for the Division 1 North tourney.
Each is hunting that elusive 10th win that will lock up a spot.
Here's a look at the road that remains for each:
Andover (8-7)
Saturday, hosts Central
Wednesday, hosts Bishop Guertin
Thursday, hosts Salem, N.H.
Sunday and Monday, at Peabody Tourney
Central (5-9)
Saturday, at Andover
Sunday, at North Attleboro
Monday, host Bishop Fenwick
Wednesday, host North Attleboro
Saturday, host David Prouty
Sunday, host Drury
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Baseball, 05/15/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Alex Brickman's bomb to right-center scored Tim Awiszus with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as Andover beat Londonderry 5-4. Reid Bryant tossed five innings of no-hit relief and Sam Bennett got the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.
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Baseball, 05/14/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
