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

With an entire town torn asunder by a questionable, if not peculiarly classless and ill-timed firing of Ken Maglio, I did hear through sources that one Andover High athlete is skyrocketing up the college recruiting charts.
A bulked-up, now 6-foot-4, 200-some odd pound Brian Miller had the Boston College coaches beaming at the recent BC football camp.
A junior to be at Andover, Miller reportedly buzzed through a 4.69 40-yard dash to announce his presence as a Division 1A recruit.
As one source close to the camp stated, “if they could have legally offered, they would have right there.”
One coach in the Andover system noted, “He’s put on at least 15 or 20 pounds of muscle. He looks like a totally different kid.”
Come September, the first time schools can officially offer to high school juniors, Miller is sure to be a busy man.
That is good news for whoever stands on the Warrior sidelines this fall. Hopefully, some sanity will be brought to the decision-making over there very soon.

Andover’s Rob Oppenheim finishes off the field at the Mass. Open with a four-shot win.
The former Rollins College great picks up a nice check of $15000 for the three days work, which hopefully will be a springboard to a big summer around New England and in Canada.
Message to the folks running the PGA Deutsche Bank championship later this year in Norton.
The Mass. Open champ deserves a spot in that field.
Two words … sponsor’s exemption. Time for those folks to step up.
Oppenheim will be busy, but this win is a nice victory, the fifth time in history some has claimed the Mass. Amateur and Mass. Open titles.

OK, year number one of the Creature, the 2008-09 school sports year, is now in the books.
And what a year it was.
We took some bumps along the way, remember the wars with MKA and Kodiaksrevenge/tom tuttle.
I’ve tried to make this blog interesting, bordering on must-read stuff and don’t plan on changing that strategy now.
In the future, I promise more: video and audio and some interactive events.
I have too many memories of this year to list, usually Mike Muldoon handles that in an Eagle-Tribune column.
For me, it’s all about the emotions of the game, the athletes and there was plenty.
I burned with anger at times, and felt the pain at others. I rejoiced and stood in disbelief. It was an awesome year, and next year will be better.
This summer we’ll dabble in golf, both on the course and here on the blog, hopefully that will keep you folks coming back for more through the down times.
Also, I’ll be here again on the sports news front, coaches coming and going, athletes committing.
The Carson Desrosiers action has to be heating up.
I’ll be out in Vegas with him, the Mass Rivals and the Granite State Jayhawks late in July as the top coaches in their country make their pitches.
There’s legion baseball and summer sports. And reporting date for football teams in NH is less than two months away.
Watch the blog for updates and more.
Most of all, I’m looking to bring out the issues you, my loyal readers, are into. Call me on my take, most of the time I love it as long as it’s aboveboard and interesting.
Again, thank you all for a great year.
HL

As I type this Andover’s Rob Oppenheim is teeing it up on the Nationwide Tour event in Maryland. This is a big one for the Rollins College legend, who has been tearing it up lately in qualifiers and mini-tours.
Let’s shoot for a top 20, Opp. Good luck. By the way, the tournament is on the Golf Channel this weekend and you can also follow Rob on www.pgatour.com or his own site www.roboppenheimgolf.com.

OK, back to baseball.
What will Ryan Browner of Georgetown do for an encore?
Pinning a 2-1 loss on North Reading yesterday, the fab frosh improved to 9-1 and sent the Royals to the sectional finals against rival Newburyport.
After nipping the Port in the Spofford tourney finals, Georgetown coach Mark Rowe branded the Clippers “the favorite in the Division 3 north tournament.” He might have been Nostradamus after the Clips KO’d Hunter Gordon and Swampscott.
It makes for a wild section final with the Royals and Clips, a battle of mentor vs. protege with Bill Petingell and Rowe, his 1979 captain.

And speaking of freshmen, Brandon Walsh has been amazing.
Wild turn of events there with North Andover beating Dracut, which squandered a 4-1 lead.
He picks up the win in relief then another walkoff game-winner with a shot off the wall at alumni in left.

Love North Andover as a team of destiny. Of course, i was on them at the beginning.
Sets up for a great Saturday of baseball at LeLacheur with the Knights and Reading at noon, Gtown and the Port at 3 and the D1 finals after that.

i am most angry at the MIAA for not scheduling the Prep and Lowell as the night game. I would love to watch Carmain, Yaz and the boys battle Lowell, after my 4 p.m. date with Salem and Timberlane today. Oh well.
I’ve seen three of the four D1 finalists, and I’ll say a Prep/L-S sectional final is a pretty good bet.

Anyone have any thoughts on Saturday’s sectional finals?
I’d say the Clippers have a slight edge on G’town, but you have to love NA’s chances.
By the way Knight leadoff man Ryan Sifferlen is no 17 for his last 25 with a nine-game hit streak that his lifted the average to .479.

A year ago, while I was off put by the fact that there were three Newburyport players and four North Reading players in a conference that had five different champions, BUT I lauded the Cape Ann League coaches for the courage to name a 13-player all-league team, one that actually had meaning.
I compared it to the MVC, a 10-team league that for some reason cowardly named an 18-player team.
Well, my rant obviously fell on deaf ears. The MVC coaches again couldn’t make it count, and the CAL boys figured why not join the fun.
An eighteen player all CAL team came across Longo’s desk last night. Wow.
I feel bad for the kids like large school MVP Jordan Silva and North Andover’s dynamic southpaw duo of Ryan Sifferlen and Mike Weisman. They are truly top 12 kind of guys. It’s too bad the coaches chose not to truly make that honor special.
Funny thing, though. Whoever printed up the team clearly feels the same way as I do.
The team list is clearly tiered. Pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders, dh, going 12 deep.
Then all of a sudden, it looks like the final six guys are add-ons, a little of this, a little of that, a guy here, a guy there, almost like they had a six-way tie for the 13th and final spot.
Fellas, that’s what league all-stars are for.
Sorry, I just can’t embrace the politically correct road here.
18 is way too many.

Good news, bad news for Andover.
The bad first, Shawn Carlson rolled his ankle shagging flies at Tuesday night’s MVC all-star game and was on crutches for the Warrior opener with Boston English.
The good, the Warriors opened with 11 in the first, and starter John Farrell basically threw a bullpen, going three scoreless innings before exiting.
If I’m Ken Maglio, with an 11-0 lead Farrell would have gone only one inning, maybe only one batter, but he’s got 252 career wins and I have 0, so I’ll yield to his judgment.
Farrell will surely be ready to go Saturday night against Lawrence, if Farrell can’t.

Speaking of bad luck in a blowout, Swampscott put up 23-spot on Lowell Catholic, meaning BC-bound Hunter Gordon was held out for the upcoming first-rounder with Whittier Tech … Ouch.

Before any more of the action is played, here are my picks in each section. Sorry, I’m late.

Division 1 North

I’m taking St. John’s Prep over Central Catholic.
Why?
Sorry, I like Central’s draw. Yes, they play L-S, but that’s the L-S No. 2 vs. Central’s Nos. 1 and 2, considering the Raiders get a freebie in the opener with Brook Farm. That and the fact that the Quinn kid is questionable, I like the Raiders.
As for the Prep, they are the Prep, with monsters at every position and a deep, deep mound corps.
Chris Carmain is money. Yaz is a top 15 round draft pick (according to at least one scout I just spoke to) and the Castoldi kid hits everything.
SJP wll have to earn it, though. The opener with Lynn English is no walk, especially with English tossing Jonathan Surette and his nasty deuce at them.
Dates with MC and Westford loom, and that’s before a potential sectional final with my, er the Raiders. (Note: that last line was put in to antagonize all the folks who say I favor Central).

My sectional sleeper (I should trademark that line by the way) is of course Lawrence. The only thing holding the Lancers back is that once in the state tourney, you have depleted pitching and have to win a slugfest. Can Lawrence do that? If they do, we might be talking history here.

Division 2 North

I said it in March, then April, now May and I will in June … North Andover is a clear-cut choice to win D2.
Who in the division can match Weisman, Brunette and Walsh on the hill?
Nobody.
And I can’t say for certain, because I don’t know every team’s personnel, but if I was doing a fantasy draft, Ryan Sifferlen would be my first non-pitcher taken in the sectional. I’m pretty sure of that.
The Knights KO Belmont in the North title game.
Sectional sleeper? Sorry, it’s not really a sleeper. Masco’s third time against NA is the charm. If the Chieftains can beat the Knights, they repeat as North champs.

Division 3 North

I like St. Mary’s of Lynn over Arlington Catholic.
Sorry, but the Spartans gain is Whittier’s loss as St. Mary gets Swampscott without Gordon on the hill and capitalizes.
Sectional sleeper: How can you not like North Reading? Take a look at the draw and factor in the program’s tradition.
A no-brainer to reach the semis, with a shot to knock off AC.