OK,
So it was a long, exciting weekend in which not only did I see some great pitching and games at the new Devlin Field for the Lawrence Invitational, but I also got to see a great State Vocational title game at Whittier, plus an exciting Spofford tourney final at Georgetown, in which we caught our first glimpse of frosh sensation Ryan Browner.
In no particular order, some stray shots from the weekend.
Impressive effort by Andover, led by the two blue-chip pitchers, Shawn Carlson and John Farrell.
Bigtime talents in this area often are forced to deal with cynics. I constantly harken back to the he’s not that good, he’s pitching in NH arguments I heard about Jay Yennaco right up to the point when the Red Sox drafted him in the third round.
If you bothered to watch the action on Saturday or Sunday, any doubters of Carlson or Farrell were silenced as if they had stuffed their mouth with a pair of Devlin Dogs.
Farrell’s scouting report in the 17 strikeout win over North Andover: 86-89 on the gun from the first inning to the last, with a 78-79 mph unhittable biting curve ball.
Carlson’s: 87-89 with the gas until the fourth inning, when his team took the lead. Then he was 90-91 regularly and hit 92. His breaking ball which had Lawrence hitters buckling all night was 79-80.
Will either get drafted in two weeks? Who knows? Who understands the draft anyway? But both guys flat-out can pitch. The future is so bright.
One last Warrior note, they didn’t win the Frank Brucato MVP trophy but it was great to see two of Ollie Longo’s favorite Andover Warriors Baseball School (directed by Ken Maglio June 29-July 3, July 6-10 and July 13-17) counselors getting it done in big spots for the champion Warriors.
First, it was Jake Ponti in the semis, slapping an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth of the 1-0 thriller vs. North Andover.
And then, Sunday it was Christian Lightner’s turn, in Ollie’s favorite manner, the drag bunt to score the game-winning run off of Lancer cheddar delivery man Yunior Vasquez.
One of the great bunts, you’ll ever see.
Tip of the cap to Maglio, who noticed the third baseman way back and told Lightner, whom he says is a heck of a bunter, to give it a look.
The weekend also validate the huge worth of a bigtime playmaker at short, like Lawrence’s Harvey Blanco and Andover’s John Hennessy.
Blanco had four hits and three RBIs in the three games, including two hits off Carlson. He was the one rock in the Lancer lineup.
Hennessy has had better stretches at the plate in his three varsity seasons, but his defense in the finals saved Andover.
He turned the game with defense, much like Brian Tisbert did in his time there.
Some thoughts on Devlin Field: I would love to see a field in Lawrence designed some day without the scoreboard right in center field in the hitter’s background.
There was so much room. They could have built the field the other way, with home plate near the softball field, then built a clubhouse/press box/bathroom/concession area between them.
My hindsight is 20-20, I know.
So is my vision (with contacts) and I saw an unGodly amount of wicked hops over the weekend.
Lancer coach Brendan Neilon diplomatically chose not to engage in that conversation, but my sources tell me that there is nobody taking care of the field because the DPW has no time and the DPW workers won’t allow the custodians at the high school to do it.
HOW TYPICAL OF LAWRENCE?
Another gem of a field destined to go into disrepair because of a political tiff.
It was heartening to watch the high school athletes do the work. The kids hustled on a weekend in which not only they had to play three games but also work the gates, chase foul balls and do all the work opening and closing the tournament. Lawrence has no user fees. Maybe, it’s a good thing. Let the athletes do the work, you know. It will teach them a lesson of responsibility.
Hillie super catcher Ronnie Rosario took in the action every night. The kid, along with being a physical specimen, is clearly a baseball junkie.
And a great kid.
Which brings me to the tourney field.
Why aren’t Haverhill and Central in this thing again?
Those two squads make this tournament something that truly, truly can work.
Typically, you ask the Central kids and they want to play in this thing. You ask Rosario, the Hillies would love to be here.
And again, we’re at an impasse.
One other option in my eyes, is to add a Division 1 team and a Division 2 team.
Make it Andover, Methuen, Lawrence and a fourth D1 team on one side.
Tewks, NA and Masco, with a fourth D2 team on the other. And have the winner in each bracket meet in the finals.
Good to see ex-Hillie great (and former Post 4 Legion player of mine) Tommy Englehart at the tourney. Here’s hoping the Fisher College product gets a shot in the pros. You could always tell at 15-16 the kid could hit. Hopefully, some organization takes a shot.
Hey, did anyone catch Tewksbury High 2008 grad Scott Oberg dealing for UConn in the Big East tournament. The frosh came out of the pen and picked up the win over South Florida with a couple clean innings of relief. He pitched well the next day with two more scoreless against Louisville. One pro scout at the Lawrence Invite had no doubt Oberg will be a pro in two years.
All right, I’ve droned on much too long. Anyone else pumped for the state tournament? This is a good time, right now. The end of a long school sports year. Time to go out on a high.
Who do you guys like to make a run? Let me know.
HL
