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Connor Walsh had two hits and two RBIs and freshman brother Brandon Walsh added a pair of hits and drove in another run as North Andover topped Newburyport 6-4.

Connor Walsh had two hits and two RBIs and freshman brother Brandon Walsh added a pair of hits and drove in another run as North Andover topped Newburyport 6-4.

Tommy Morris took the loss for Newburyport (6-3). Matt Mottola was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Joe Clancy, Kyle McElroy and Kevin Holmes had the other three Newburyport hits.

Tommy Morris took the loss for Newburyport (6-3). Matt Mottola was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Joe Clancy, Kyle McElroy and Kevin Holmes had the other three Newburyport hits.

Less than one day after falling to Amesbury, North Andover baseball rebounded with a comeback win over Ipswich. Juan Areces singled home Brad Patnaude and Aaron Brunette with the tying and go-ahead runs in the last of the sixth.

North Andover sophomore pitcher Mike Weisman came just one hit shy of a no-hitter, settling for a one-hitter as the Scarlet Knights took a 3-0 victory over Lynnfield. Weisman allowed just one hit over seven innings, striking out 10. Second baseman Connor Walsh led the offense with a sac fly in the first and an RBI single in the fifth inning.

Alec Jillson doubled to open the sixth inning, sparking North Andover's two-run inning which erased a one-run deficit and led the Knights to a 5-3 win at Hamilton-Wenham. Nick Waszczuk hit a two-run homer in the second inning and the game ended with Ryan Sifferlen making an outstanding catch to secure the win. Aaron Brunette worked fiv innings to earn the win and Michael Weisman picked up the save with two innings of no-hit relief.

NORTH ANDOVER — All those wins, all those years of service and North Andover High treats Mike Valentino just like any other Chieftain.

Valentino, the former Knight diamond great and assistant coach, now in his first year at the helm of rival Masconomet Regional, saw his new club take one on the chin, 8-3, yesterday in the early season Cape Ann League Large showdown.

Just one day after upsetting rival Andover 10-7, North Andover fell to North Reading, 14-6. Kevin Singer knocked in five runs on 2 of 3 batting, and the Hornets as a team were able to cash in on 13 free passes (11 base on balls, two hit batsmen). Mike Weisman drove in three in the losing effort.

NORTH ANDOVER - A North Andover guy through and through, Ryan Sifferlen understood the enormity of the situation.
Knight wins over arch-rival Andover, in any sport, are hard to come by.
"I think we might have beaten them in football my freshman year, but that's the last time I've beaten them," said Sifferlen, who got the Knights out of a two-out, two-on jam with one pitch in the sixth then tossed a scoreless seventh for the save in North Andover's 10-7 upset of the No. 3 rated Division 1 team in Eastern Mass.
"You have to be ready when you're number is called. It's been a while, and it feels really good."
The Knights move to 2-0 with their first baseball win over Andover since 2003.
A 12-inning affair Wednesday, plus a return date Saturday morning with Cambridge, forced Warrior coach Ken Maglio to a handful of untested arms with Shawn Carlson and John Farrell resting.
"We're young, and it's early," said Maglio. "We have to see what we've got."
Together the teams racked up 25 hits and also stranded 26 on base.
The Knights were just a bit more efficient.
Sifferlen and slugging sophomore Alec Jilson (3 RBIs) each had three hits. Frosh Brandon Walsh tripled in one run and singled home another for the Knights, who capitalized on 11 walks by Andover pitching.
"I think we're very good," said Sifferlen, a three-year starter who comes into the season with a .333 career average. "We have all the tools here to be a very good team. And a win like this builds so much confidence."
The Warriors, who needed 12 innings to scratch a run across against the Cantabs, were on the board with two swings in the first yesterday, a Jake Ponti single followed by Alex Patti's triple to right.
Each had three hits in the loss, while John Hennessy, Dan Gusovsky and Vince Bellino all had two.