RallyNorth.net: High School Sports - Merrimack Valley and Southern NH

Tim Holland of Georgetown is now headed for Polk County Community College in Florida.
Maybe.
Word from the Royals’ camp is that the 4-year starter is being heavily scouted by a handful of pro teams as a hitter, led by the Anaheim Angels.
Holland is absolutely signable. He’s absolutely looking for a pro shot. Here’s to hoping he gets his shot in June.
By the way, Holland, who tossed a one-hitter against Rockport Thursday, is closing in on a major accomplishment. According to Eagle-Tribune records, he currently stands at 97 hits for his career, three from the magic 100 plateau.

As a taxpayer, even though it doesn’t involved my property taxes, I can’t believe that the folks in Methuen and Andover can’t get together on a way to solve their early tie.
The teams won’t pick up and settle that tie before Friday night’s clash on Ranger Road.
Instead, Methuen will take a $165 bus to Andover, which will employ $160 worth of umpires, for what might amount to an inning of work.
It’s not Arlen Specter tossing around millions trying to appease Steeler fans on a worthless investigation, but 300 bucks is 300 bucks.

Hey, how about them Hillies, who’ve won 4 straight to keep their slender MVC small title hopes alive.
Tewksbury clinched at least a tie, but the Hillies can win out, beg for some help and at least earn a share.

Heard through a source that the Gatorade folks are down to three as it comes to the 2008 Mass. Baseball player of the year. The three finalists are St. Peter-Marian’s Keith Landers, a Louisville-bound lefty; Clemson-bound Scott Weismann of Acton-Boxborough; and UConn-bound righty Scott Oberg of Tewksbury.

Am I the only one thoroughly impressed by Pentucket’s Justin Bolla and his wild streak of at least one hit and one RBI in all 13 of his team’s games?
And Bolla, hitting .538 with 27 RBIs in those 13 games, might not even be the favorite for team MVP.
Catcher Pete Creamer (.517) missed the first five games of the year, but has come back strong. Pentucket went 2-3 without Creamer and is 7-1 with him. That’s impact, folks.

Sticking with the CAL, North Andover has all but clinched in the large, a tribute to a Knight team that graduated a horse in UConn lefty Mike Hashem.

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Talk about depressing, watching Central and Andover do little else more than hit yesterday in the 20-10 Warrior win was not exactly an action-packed afternoon.
First off, kudos to Andover. The tradition continues. The Warriors win games and titles. This was a back-to-the-wall game for them, and Andover came to play.
Central didn’t. And now it’s a four or five-game dash, with each team owning its own destiny.
The Raiders had a chance to separate themselves yesterday from that sea of MVC mediocrity that has engulfed the baseball ranks this spring.
Tewksbury has done it.

Andover and Central still can. But there are still a handful of tough rungs for each on the ladder out.

Remember, Tewksbury hosts Haverhill today, not tomorrow, as the teams try to beat Friday’s predicted rain.

Sticking with the diamonds, I’ll continue my thought process when it comes to NH athletics. Like basketball, the NHIAA should consider some changes to the way the regular season is conducted.
This 18-game, one at nearly everyone, Class L regular-season round robin is about as exciting as watching JV tiddlywinks. (Sorry, tiddlywinkers out there).
Why not split the state into conferences, by geography and size, or at least split Class L into conferences, make the regular season worth something.
The games need to be worth something, not just tuneups for the playoffs.

OK, in case you missed it in the ring last night, or on ESPN2, Lawrence’s Eddie Caminero improved to 4-0 as a pro boxer, knocking out Adrick Butler of Maryland in the third round.
Caminer, of the lawrence Boxing Club, is a bit old for pro fight standards, approaching 30, but he is an interesting prospect. The kid hits and hits and hits.
He’s worth keeping an eye on.

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Can it be?
Only May 7, and Andover High faces a must-win situation?
Yep, the four-time defending MVC champs are all but standing in that predicament Wednesday afternoon at Merrimack College when they challenge Central Catholic.
Central, 7-1 in league, is already a game up in the title race on the Warriors. A win here and it’s all but lights out. Methuen and Lowell, with four losses, are already basically out of the race.
No way Central goes 2-3 down the stretch in to involve them.
It’s a two-horse race and the Raiders have the inside position right now, despite Andover taking the earlier meeting between the two.
Remember, along with the losses to Lowell and Tewksbury, Andover has a 5-5 tie to be settled with Methuen.
Chances are it will be a rematch of Andover’s John Farrell (1-2) vs. Raider Brendan Walsh (2-1).
Central has the look of those Larry Day-Tom Mackor-led St. John’s Prep state title teams of nearly a decade ago, with hitters from 1-9, into the bench.
The Raiders don’t have the lights-out pitching, or at least haven’t shown it consistently yet, but on offense, who’s better in EMass?
I put the question to Tewksbury coach Ron Drouin. His Redmen are now rated No. 2 in Emass.
Central barely broke into the top 20 this week after being inexplicably shunned a week ago (but we won’t go there).
Drouin likes his lineup an awful lot and should.
Then you look at Central.
Behind the dish is Drew Guyer, a first-year starter sure, but the junior is hitting a shade under .500.
In the infield, there’s Ryan Kemp (.560!), Robbie Taylor (.321), Marc Crowley (9 for 17), and Marc Pelletier’s latest nominee for “King Rat” (that’s a good thing, trust me folks!) Ross Sarmento (.481).
Sorry, folks, but that rivals the Redmen quintet of Devlin, Ferriero, Burns, Wallace and Delponte.
Raider Roberto Valenti, at .357 in center and Tewksbury’s all-leaguer Justin Torname? … a wash.
Chris Sartori holds down one of the corner outfield spots for Central. He’s swinging it over .400, compared to say a Scott Oberg offensively, again a wash.
And Michael Romano may not be able to play the field, but he’s creeping back into the lineupas a dh, and that’s another proven varsity hitter.
My first thoughts that only Tewksbury might do some state tourney damage coming out of the MVC could be wrong.
Central might be the biggest sleeper in a wide-open Division 1 north.
All that said, the Raiders have to beat a real good team, something they have yet to do.
And don’t count out Andover. All that back class. All those titles, yeah, they do mean something.

Elsewhere:

What a gem by North Reading senior Brian O’Neil, blanking No. 12 Masco.

When are the close-minded folks up in the big city papers going to share a little love on the unranked Hornets, anyway?

I’m praying for one strategically-placed day of rain to free me up to see Adrian Gonzalez, Jimmy Zenevitch and the Central Catholic volleyball team against a legit opponent.

This is a bit on the personal level. Congrats to Central Catholic senior footballer and wrestler Mike Fillipon, my nephew, for getting into and accepting a spot in the University of New Hampshire’s class of 2012.
Mike won’t play any sports there. He got into UNH the hard way, working in the class room, earning it.
This is a kid whose mom was told by staffers at his Salem, N.H., parochial school that he didn’t have the stuff to survive at Central Catholic. Wow, were you folks wrong. Horrendously wrong. And it’s not too late to apologize either.
Given the shot at Central, Mike buckled down, assimilated and flourished. He played three years of football, became one of the guys, even tried wrestling and gave his heart to the school. At times he made honors. Others, he just missed, but he just kept working. The kid prospered when most had him pegged for implosion.
He got plenty of help from the top down. I am completely indebted to guys like Chuck Adamopoulos, John Sexton, Ernie Difiore, Sean Finneran and so many others for paying attention to Mike and welcoming him to their football family.
They have done so much in helping my Godson grow into a fine young man.
Most of all, let me say that I’m proud of Mike for taking his shots when he needed to and figuring it out when he had to. He did most of it on his own, with some help from his mom too, but I am just so very proud.
Now Mike, just make sure you get Brother Ernie’s term paper done!

Finally, for the record, I know this is a high school site, it says here the Celtics lose in six or seven to the Cavs. Sorry folks, it breaks my heart, but this team is going nowhere with an angry LeBron James standing across the way.

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Took in the Tewksbury-Haverhill MVC small clash today at the stadium, and of course, it was all Tewksbury, 7-0.
For the record, it’s a tale of two seasons so far with haverhill.
Chip Dunn’s crew is a perfect 3-0 when one HL is not in the building. The Hillies are 1-3 when the czar of TATB is in attendance.
I’ll try to stay away, Chip.

Tewksbury and Central have slide to the top of their divisions in the MVC, each with one league loss. The two have not met yet.

More and more, I have to agree with Andover coach Ken Maglio, who insists that 10-3 or 9-4 will win the MVC large. Nobody is going to run away and hide in the large.
“Other than Tewksbury, pretty much everyone else is pretty close,” said Hillie coach Chip Dunn.
You have to agree.

Outside the MVC, am I the only one surprised at North Andover’s 4-1 start. the Knights are young, but have experience and talent where you need it, up the middle.
Start with the 1-2 pitching punch of Aaron Brunette and Brian Meikle. Taylor Livingston is solid behind the dish, with brent Ringland at short and Ryan sifferlen in center … They’re athletes and competitors. All that separates NA from perfection is a 1-run loss to masco. Can’t wait till the rematch.

Been trying to get this one out all week, kudos to the Andover captains for their selections for the all-white home uniforms. Talk about sweet. They look spectacular, and classy.

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Big bounce-back test Wednesday for No. 1 Tewksbury, which travels to unranked Andover Wednesday morning (11 a.m.)
Andover is the only MVC team without a league loss. Please note, this game has been shifted to Andover because Tewksbury’s new field surface is not completed yet.

Got to talking with Pentucket’s Tom L’Italien after the loss to North Reading yesterday, and the subject of injuries popped up.
Look around. Rosters everywhere are being stripped by injuries:
Andover is missing catcher Dan Gusovsky.
Central is without Marc Crowley and Michael Romano.
Haverhill has seen Bobby Shirling’s shoulder keep him off shortstop.
Lawrence has been without catcher Jose Diaz (hand) and shortstop Ruben Sosa (hammy).
Methuen’s Dave Koerner is still rehabbing a broken leg.
North Reading is without No. 3 pitcher and all-league outfielder Zach Hastings.
Pentucket is without starting pitcher Bobby Maguire and starting catcher Peter Creamer.
And that’s just off the top of my head.
Is it too much lifting, too early of a start on the season? Just bad luck?

Looking for a rising star, how about Haverhill junior Ronny Rosario, who has caught the eye of at least one pro scout. Rosario was timed by a scout from the Giants after a recent game on his throws down to second. He was clocked in the 1.9s, which is outstanding for a high school catcher. We’ll keep an eye on that situation.

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Just returned from a delightful two-day sojourn to Cooperstown where Methuen High knocked off the No. 1 team in Eastern Mass, Tewksbury, 6-4, in a great ball game on Doubleday Field.

Let’s tackle the on-field stuff first. It was a gigantic effort by the Rangers.
Clutch hits, superb pitching, even a web gem or two in the field, Jim Cote’s first-inning diving stab was spectacular.
David Koerner might have pitched the best game of his career, and the Rangers got a nice effort from catcher Steve Saba, with two big run-scoring hits.

Tewksbury suffered its first defeat in the early going. The Redmen had a little tough luck when starting pitcher Ronnie Wallace was forced to leave the game after two innings. Wallace was violently ill on Wednesday, but somehow pulled himself together enough to take the mound. After two innings, he could barely stand and went to the hospital, where he was treated for low potassium levels and severe dehydration.
Talk about a game effort by the kid.

The Rangers pulled together, though, and rallied from down 3-1, showing a lot of guts against an unbeaten team.

All in all, it was a great time for the two teams in Cooperstown. Read the Sunday Eagle-Tribune for much more on his trip.

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Lost in yet another strong Central Catholic performance on the diamond yesterday was one giant missed fact.
Raider coach Marc Pelletier celebrated win 250 of his career when his club beat Haverhill Wednesday.
That’s a milestone I should never have missed. Congrats to one of the class coaches in the region.

Currently in Cooperstown with the Methuen Rangers and Tewksbury Redmen. They tangle on Doubleday Field tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

By the way, I’d recommend this Hall of Fame trip to anyone.

More from the Rangers tomorrow.

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Ran into coach Rick Nault at the Raider baseball game yesterday.

A couple nuggets there:

Senior point guard Wilfredo Pagan will head to Merrimack, where he’ll most likely play for Bert Hammel on the Lawrence Boys Club scholarship.

Sixth man KB Oshodi is still leaning toward Drexel in Philly.

Junior guard Billy Marsden still has no scholarship offers yet. Note the the coaches in the Northeast-10 Conference, and I’m dating myself here, but: The next Gary Duda (look him up, youngsters) is here for the taking, fellas. Marsden is the perfect fit for the NE-10. And he’s there for the best offer.
Nault noted the one school that has shown some interest in Marsden is Yale.

No offers yet for sophomore Carson Desrosiers, who is playing for the Mass Rivals in AAU ball.

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Ambled by Pelham Street, of all places, to catch a handful of innings yesterday between Central Catholic and Methuen.
Impressive effort by the Raiders, who moved to 2-0 with an 11-4 win. A couple of observations:
Central clubbed the baseball, and the Raiders did their damage with a couple of top guns, infielders Michael Romano and Marc Crowley out of the lineup with injuries.
That’s 28 runs in two games without two big bats.

Nice work by Zak Adamopoulos, as the junior righty makes his bid for a top spot in a deep Raider rotation. He’s not overpowering, doesn’t have the unhittable second pitch, but Adamopoulos top trait is his competitiveness. This is where banging every day in the winter with Adrian Gonzalez and digging it out in the trenches as a two-way starter every fall pays dividends. When things got tough yesterday, Adamopoulos ratcheted things up. He left Rangers hanging on the basepaths all day like bats from the ceiling of Carlsbad Caverns.

The difference yesterday, Central hit with runners on, and Methuen didn’t.

Spinning around the region, surprising Sanborn Regional with coach Billy Chapman is off to a nice 2-1 start. You’d have to say Salem’s 1-2 is a disappointment, as is Pelham’s 0-3.
But of course, it’s very early.

Finally, let’s make a quick note about the deplorable field conditions this fall.

At Methuen, where the town ignored the high school diamond until only recently, the Rangers don’t have a home field yet, hence the trip to the senior league diamond at Pelham street.
Coach Dave Fabrizio had parents, players, friends and fellow teachers working in the new clay he acquired about two weeks ago.

At least the Rangers will at some point have a home field.

The same may or may not be said for Lawrence, where the Lancers lost their “home” opener to Lowell, 9-6, yesterday.
The game was played on an unkempt South lawrence East field. As one fan at the game noted, “no infielder was sitting on ground balls or staying down. You just had no idea what the ball was going to do.”
How long does this have to continue in Lawrence? The new high school field lies dormant, with coach Brendan Neilon waiting for an OK to play from the city. Meanwhile, the crows get free reign on the diamond. They’re the only ones.
Lawrence was warned a few years ago. Get the artificial field turf everywhere. The city is notorious for not caring for its fields. Pick a diamond, any diamond. Why not go with the same field turf at the stadium? But no. There was no room in the $115 million budget for the kids, who again are the ones who pay.
Of course, we’ll have nothing to worry about in Lawrence when that new minor league stadium brought up by the administration years ago is built on the canal area. (Please note, this line is drenched with sarcasm.)

And finaly, we come to my home town, Haverhill, the home of the “Band-Aid on the stab wound” approach. The usually superb Haverhill Stadium infield is now soft and unreliable. And thanks to the city, which in its infinite wisdom, aerated the outfield right before the home opener with Swampscott, allowing for wild hops which had “extra bases” on the agenda for anyone lucky to hit it to the outfield. Balls were skipping past outfielders everywhere.
I’d like to than the mayor and his staff for shunning the kids in Haverhill once again. And you wonder why nobody is playing sports at HHS. The athletes are treated like third-class citizens, not by the teachers and coaches but by the folks who sign the checks.

Year after year, I’m amazed every time I walk into Lowell’s Alumni Field, you know the second-class baseball facility in that city. All the Lowell folks complain that the conditions aren’t good. On Alumni’s worst day, it looks like Fenway compared to the diamonds in Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill.

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Fellas, Fellas, Fellas.
There was an ugly-looking comment, previously on this site, that had to be removed.
The initials from the sender were “RD.” Let me say for the record, that as soon as Coach Drouin saw this, he called and notified me of the comment. It was not him. And I immediately took it down.
Fellas, this is not a site to attack anyone. It’s an attempt to discuss high school sports.
I’m not saying we can’t be a little negative or talk about controversy, but no personal attacks will be tolerated.
If Coach X doesn’t bunt when he should and it costs his club the big one, sure let’s discuss it. But not something that goes after a man’s integrity.
So keep it fun, keep it interesting. And let’s show a little good taste.

Hector

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