Wed, May 07, 2014
04:30 PM @
North Andover
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Final |
| Lawrence |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| North Andover |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Lawrence holds off charging Knights
- Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
Wednesday, May, 07
By Hector Longo
NORTH ANDOVER — It's May in the Merrimack Valley Conference, and every swing matters.
Like no other baseball season in recent memory, nearly everyone in the league is clustered near the .500 mark. With a third of the season left and a slight chill still lingering in the air, teams are already fighting for their postseason lives.
"We've been in every game we've played," said North Andover coach Todd Dulin. "We just have to learn how to win them ... fast."
Dulin's Knights clawed back from an early 4-0 deficit but just came up short, falling to visiting Lawrence, 4-3.
Talk about impact. The Knights drop two games below the magic .500 mark at 5-7, while the Lancers gain some valuable breathing space at 8-6.
Fabian "JoJo" Vasquez picked up win for the Lancers, showing a sizzling fastball — the kind he pounded in the strike zone early in the season when he no-hit Malden. More recently, the senior had been relegated to the bullpen after a couple rough outings vs. Andover and Chelmsford.
"To me, Andover and Chelmsford swing it as well as anyone," said Lawrence coach Brendan Neilon. "Against them, he got into positions where he had to throw fastballs to good hitters. And we've just been trying to help get his confidence back."
Vasquez went six strong innings, allowing all three runs in the sixth on three hits. He finished with five strikeouts and three walks as Wilmer Gomez came on to pitch the seventh for the save.
The Lancers gave the right-hander a pair of runs in the second and two more in the third to build the advantage. Edison Urena (infield hit) and Jesus Ventura (bases-loaded walk) drove in the first two. In the third, Julio Leon doubled and trotted home on Luis Ortiz's triple. Ortiz scored the fourth Lancer run on Josh Casado's bullet up the middle that ricocheted off starting pitcher Brendan Parisotto to second baseman Stephen Borzi for a 1-4-3 RBI groundout.
From there, junior reliever Max Guertin slammed the door on the Lancers, mowing down all 11 Lancers he faced and giving his club a chance to climb back in it.
"He's pitched really well this year," said Dulin, of his lefty. "Nothing he throws is straight. The ball moves. When he hits his spots, he's nasty."
But on this day, Vasquez had a little nasty in him, too.
"My fastball was back, and I just pounded the strike zone with it," said Vasquez, who went for the kill with a nasty breaking ball on more than one occasion. "It felt good out there today. And when they hit it, the guys behind me made all the plays."
Steady Edison Urena filled the void at shortstop for Elvis Peralta, who sat out the game with a school disciplinary issue, and flashed some serious leather out there.
Game Statistics:
Lawrence (4): Jesus Ventura lf 3-0-1, Brahiam Ortega 2b 4-0-0, Julio Leon dh 4-1-1, Darluigi Gonzalez cf 3-0-0, Luis Orrtiz lf 3-1-1, Josh Casado 1b 3-1-1, Ignacio Cespedes 3b 2-0-0, Jordaly Vasquez c 2-0-0, Edison Urena ss 3-0-1, Totals 27-4-4
NA (3): Brendan Parisotto p/cf 4-0-1, Matt Varoutsos ss 3-0-2, Jake Caporale dh 3-0-0, Collin Couillard 1b 2-1-0, Chris Bosco c 3-1-1, Matt Iannone 1b 2-1-1, Stephen Borzi 2b 3-0-1, Joseph Kramer 3b 1-0-0, Chris Keane 3b 2-0-0, Austin Flinn lf/cf 1-0-0, Marc Patnaude lf 2-0-0, Will Marcotte lf 0-0-0, Max Guertin p 0-0-0, Totals 26-3-6
RBI: L — Ventura, Ortiz, Casado, Urena; NA — Iannone, Borzi 2
WP: Vasquez (6 ip, 3er, 5h, 3bb, 5k); Save: Gomez (1 ip, 0r, 1h, 0bb, 1k)
LP: Parisotto (3.1 ip, 4er, 5h, 2bb, 3k)
also Guertin (3.2 ip, 0r, 0h, 0bb, 2k)
