RallyNorth.net

LAWRENCE - Central Catholic pushed Lawrence High to the baseball brink.

The Lancers responded with a diamond personality few might have thought they had.

Up 7-3 then down 9-7 in the seventh, second-seeded Lawrence rallied for two in the seventh and a single run in the eighth, surviving the Division 1 North first-round nail-biter, 10-9. Monday evening at 6:30, the Lancers will host No. 7 Peabody in the North quarters here at Devlin Field.

The bane of Allen Iverson's existence has extended Central Catholic's season.

Hard work on offensive situations in practice has continued to pay dividends for the No. 15 Raiders, the latest in a 17-6 torching of No. 18 Salem in Division 1 North preliminary round play.

LOWELL - Under Marc Pelletier in the last 24 years, Central Catholic has made bolder on-field proclamations as the boss of the Merrimack Valley Conference large division.

None have been more satisfying or more gritty.

Chris Berganti collected three hits, had an RBI and scored a run to lead Central Catholic to victory over Austin Prep 12-4. The win clinches the Raiders a spot in the tournament for the 21st time in the last 24 years. Dan Shields picked up his fourth win of the season.  

After a big weekend victory against Holy Name, Central Catholic climbed back to the .500 mark with a 13-0, six-inning win over O'Bryant. Tablesetters Zach Bardwell (3 for 5 with triple and run scored) and Colin Walsh (2 for 3 with a run scored) kickstarted the Raiders' 11-hit attack.

Down 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, Central Catholic mounted an incedible rally. After a hit batsman, and two walks loaded the bases with no outs, Lowell turned a double play, but Cal Beneze scored to make it 6-4. Mike Amaral's pinch hit single put the score at 6-5, and a single by Zach Bardwell and an error on the right fielder tied the game six. Finally Connor Perry delivered the walk off base hit to score Bardwell and give the Raiders a thrilling victory.     

Mike Calzetta's complete-game win locked up the Merrimack Valley championship for Lawrence, for the second straight year.  The Lancers put away Central Catholic, 5-1 to improve to 13-1 (11-0 MVC),  Harvey  Blanco had two hits and a pair of RBIs to lead the Lawrence hitting attack.

Central Catholic picked up a hard earned win against Andover yesterday, fighting all the way to the last out. After Dan Shields had gone the first 6 2/3 innings and picked up seven strikeouts, Joel Sullivan came into the game with the tying run on first, and struck out the only batter he faced, picking up the save. Connor Perry led the Raider offense going 3-4 with two doubles.

Chelmsford exploded for five runs in the sixth inning, blowing open a tight contest and running away for an 11-7 victory over Central Catholic. D.J. Swarbrick rapped out three hits for the Raiders while Joel Sullivan drove in a pair of runs with two hits.

Methuen's Cal Carroll and Central's Dan Shields both picthed complete games, but Shields came out on top in this one, striking out nine and surrendering just two runs. The Raiders also played some stellar defense behind Shields, en route to a 6-2 win.