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LAWRENCE - Lawrence High hit one ball hard all night and survived. Perplexed all night long by lefty Mike Eyssi, the Lancers, down 3-0 through 41/2 innings to upset-minded Methuen, somehow scraped a rally together and prevaile in a walk-off 4-3 Lawrence Invitational opening win. That one blast, a Dionys Quezada shot to the left-centerfield gap, scored Harvey Blanco, who barely dove in under Alex Shepherd's sweep tag for the game-winner with one out in the seventh. Tonight, Lawrence will tackle Tewksbury in the second of two semifinals at Devlin Field, here at 7 p.m. At 4 p.m., it will be Andover and North Andover fighting for the right to play for a title. Eyssi, the Methuen junior, simply deserved a better fate. "We haven't seen a pitcher like that all year," said Lancer Tito Lluberes. "He had great offspeed stuff and gave us a lot of trouble with that curve ball." Indeed, Eyssi, who walked four and struck out four had Lawrence buckling and guessing. Through four, he had surrendered a pair of harmless infield singles. Meanwhile, the Rangers pounced for single runs in the second and third, the latter plated on Cal Carroll's sac fly, and another in the fifth. For a while, it looked like that would be plenty for Eyssi, but 15-3 Lawrence showed its class, or at least its sheer will by scratching and clawing. Blanco and Jose Sandoval had RBIs in the fifth, and Devin Montanez' infield out scored pinch-runner Elvis Guilamo to knot it at 3-3 in the sixth. Lluberes was a life-saver for Lawrence on the hill, picking up the win with five innings of two-hit, four-strikeout relief. "I had no idea I'd pitch until (coach Brendan Neilon) made the change," said Lluberes, who had thrown a total of four innings all year before last night. "I've been practicing the whole year, waiting for the call. "Of course I was ready. When your team needs help, you have to be there. I knew all I had to do was keep it close. When we start to panic, this team had guys like Harvey and Dionys ready to pick us up." Blanco, who plays fullback in the fall needed every ounce of his speed to beat a picture-perfect Ranger relay. Shortstop Cal Carroll looked to have no shot, then unleashed a 200-foot strike to the play to nearly gun down the runner at home.

LAWRENCE - Lawrence High hit one ball hard all night and survived. Perplexed all night long by lefty Mike Eyssi, the Lancers, down 3-0 through 41/2 innings to upset-minded Methuen, somehow scraped a rally together and prevaile in a walk-off 4-3 Lawrence Invitational opening win. That one blast, a Dionys Quezada shot to the left-centerfield gap, scored Harvey Blanco, who barely dove in under Alex Shepherd's sweep tag for the game-winner with one out in the seventh. Tonight, Lawrence will tackle Tewksbury in the second of two semifinals at Devlin Field, here at 7 p.m. At 4 p.m., it will be Andover and North Andover fighting for the right to play for a title. Eyssi, the Methuen junior, simply deserved a better fate. "We haven't seen a pitcher like that all year," said Lancer Tito Lluberes. "He had great offspeed stuff and gave us a lot of trouble with that curve ball." Indeed, Eyssi, who walked four and struck out four had Lawrence buckling and guessing. Through four, he had surrendered a pair of harmless infield singles. Meanwhile, the Rangers pounced for single runs in the second and third, the latter plated on Cal Carroll's sac fly, and another in the fifth. For a while, it looked like that would be plenty for Eyssi, but 15-3 Lawrence showed its class, or at least its sheer will by scratching and clawing. Blanco and Jose Sandoval had RBIs in the fifth, and Devin Montanez' infield out scored pinch-runner Elvis Guilamo to knot it at 3-3 in the sixth. Lluberes was a life-saver for Lawrence on the hill, picking up the win with five innings of two-hit, four-strikeout relief. "I had no idea I'd pitch until (coach Brendan Neilon) made the change," said Lluberes, who had thrown a total of four innings all year before last night. "I've been practicing the whole year, waiting for the call. "Of course I was ready. When your team needs help, you have to be there. I knew all I had to do was keep it close. When we start to panic, this team had guys like Harvey and Dionys ready to pick us up." Blanco, who plays fullback in the fall needed every ounce of his speed to beat a picture-perfect Ranger relay. Shortstop Cal Carroll looked to have no shot, then unleashed a 200-foot strike to the play to nearly gun down the runner at home.

Sophomore Cal Carroll had a home run and Alex Shepherd had two hits in Methuen's 5-2 loss to Lawrence.

Sophomore Cal Carroll had a home run and Alex Shepherd had two hits in Methuen's 5-2 loss to Lawrence.

In his first varsity at-bat Mike Eyssi singled in Matt Richardson in the bottom of the seventh to give Methuen a 3-2 walk-off win over Billerica. "We competed all day and battled back in the end," said Methuen coach Dave Fabrizio whose team didn't have a hit for the first five innings. Senior Isaac Rivera kept the Rangers in it striking out four en route to the complete game win.

St. John's Prep senior Chris Carmain had three hits and drove in three, helping to slay his hometown team Methuen, 15-3, yesterday.

In a cruel twist, it was the Prep's Nick Fabrizio, who earned the win against coach Dave Fabrizio's crew.

METHUEN - Zak Adamopoulos blitzed his way to a 5-1 junior season on the mound with plenty of help from his friends. Yesterday in the Merrimack Valley Conference opener, the Central Catholic senior sent the message to his mates and the rest of the league that this time around he's prepared to do his share of the heavy lifting. Adamopoulos, working in all his pitches, spun six innings of four-hit ball, handcuffing Methuen in a 7-2 Raider win at Potter's Field. "They make it easy," said Adamopoulos of his mates, who provided 9.8 runs a game in his five victories. "I'm always pitching with the lead and they're making all the plays behind me." Facing the minimum 12 hitters over the first four innings, Adamopoulos gave the Raiders ample time to build an advantage. Twice, he put a runner on - first by hitting leadoff man Pat Lucey and then on Ranger Cal Carroll's clean single. Each was erased on double-plays. Adamopoulos fanned five and walked a pair, yielding to Billy Wolfendale, who blazed through a 1-2-3 seventh. Marc Crowley's two-run blast was followed up by a Pat Noone two-run single as Central grabbed a 4-0 lead. Scalding Tim Wheeler (6 for 8 in two games) later chipped in a two-run single. Isaac Rivera pitched better than his line of 7 innings, 4 earned runs on 10 hits indicated. Carroll had two of the four Methuen hits. Central played again without all-league catcher Andrew Guyer, who appears to be out indefinitely now with a back injury. The Raiders still impressed in the MVC opener, after a tough loss to Catholic Memorial. "I wouldn't call us the 'Big, Bad Raiders,' just yet, but I think we're going to be very dangerous," said Adamopoulos. "We have two non-seniors out there on the field, and our rotation and relievers are all back. It's nice to know you're sending a guy out there every day who can win a game for you."

Senior Kevin Miller hit his second homer in as many days, and classmate Kenny Polanco got into the longball act as well with a three-run shot as Methuen grabbed a non-league win over Dracut, 5-4.
Sophomore Cal Carroll provided just what the 1-2 Rangers needed, a superb mound effort, throwing six no-hit innings for the win.
"He was over 100 pitches, and it was a battle all day," said coach Dave Fabrizio of the decision to pull Carroll with the no-no in tact. "We'll be counting on him for innings this year, plus I had a lot of faith in Sean Madden to close it out."

 HAVERHILL - Two games, 27 hits and 25 runs ...

Somebody had better take serious note of the 2009 Haverhill baseballers.

The Hillies got their second straight complete-game mound performance from a previously unknown commodity - this one from junior Alex Ieronimo - and again left no doubt offensively, obliterating Methuen, 13-3, in a non-league battle.

DANVERS - Hard to figure which impressed more on yesterday, the St. John's Prep baseball team or its dazzling new home turf, the Brother Linus Commons.

The Eagles breezed in their home debut, announcing themselves as an Eastern Mass. juggernaut by pounding Methuen, 17-1.