You know, the Mass. high school baseball season smashes the old adage of baseball seasons being a marathon, not a sprint.
This 20-game, 14 or 15 league game thing is an absolute, all-out sprint.
So when a team starts to go bad, it can be and usually is absolutely devastating.
I give you the Andover Warriors, losers of four straight (all last week) for example. Once 9-4, then in a flash 9-8.
Talk about a runaway freight train headed for dead-man’s gulch.
The big Warrior guns were scuffling. Proven guys, Warriors …
Stars like Cam Farnham 2 for his last 18 …
Timmy Awiszus 2 for his last 17 …
Even hit machine Andrew Deloury was riding an 0 for 8.
Yesterday, the Warriors headed to Central, which pounded the Warriors Friday. Central has won five straight, 11 of 12, and was playing to lock down an MVC title.
Yet somehow, Dan Grams’ Warriors found some life. Who could have expected yesterday’s 9-6 shocker, a victory that propelled the Warriors into the postseason and shatters Central’s hopes for an outright MVC title. They split with Chelmsford.
A couple of sophomores, Alex Brickman who slammed the door on Central in relief, and Gabriel Hernandez, who went 3 for 4, were immense, but those scuffling Warrior vets, all stepped up big too.
Farnham had two hits, two RBIs and a run scored.
That folks, is a gritty, gritty win for a club that many, probably including myself, felt was left for the picking.
Huge win for the Warriors, and now Andover becomes one of those state tourney teams you don’t want to draw early. …
Don’t forget.
The Lawrence Invitational Tournament opens tonight, 7 p.m., at Devlin Field with Methuen challenging the host team. It’s Tewksbury and North Andover, same time on Thursday with the finals on Friday night.


