RallyNorth.net

The Manchester Essex baseball team has been hitting and pitching effectively. Now they just need to get their defense squared away.

The Hornets committed nine errors yesterday, which led to nine unearned runs in a 15-7 loss to Georgetown. It was the second consecutive game that Manchester Essex (0-2) was plagued by defensive miscues.

Georgetown baseball coach Mark Rowe deserved better this weekend.

The man who spearheaded the organization of the inaugural Bert Spofford tournament shouldn't have been burdened with cold winds or constant rainfall overlapping his four-games-in-two-days schedule. For all his planning efforts, Rowe should have been blessed with two 75-degree afternoons of sun-filled baseball.

The rain and cold couldn't stop Ipswich in the first Bert Spofford Memorial Baseball Tournament in Georgetown this weekend. Neither could Newburyport or Georgetown, for that matter, as the Tigers captured the crown with a pair of thrilling victories.

Perhaps a moment of silence wouldn't be long enough to memorialize one of the region's most influential sports figures.

In that sense, it's only fitting that the entire opening weekend on the local baseball scene will be spent paying tribute to Bert Spofford, who died at the age of 90 last July.

2007 record: 14-7, lost in Division 3 North first round

Returning starters (8): Tim Holland, Sr., P/SS; Andrew Barba, Sr., OF; Darwin Fabian, Sr., P/Inf; Jeffrey Rollins, Sr., 1B; Anthony Conte, Jr., SS/2B; Joe Esposito, Jr., CF; Josh Ingram, Jr., 3B/OF; Chris Esposito, Soph., C