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Lawrence Lancers Baseball '11

Thu, May 26, 2011 07:30 PM @ Neutral Location
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Final
Lawrence 3 3 5 5 0 0 0 16
Methuen 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Champ vs. champ; ace vs. ace; Lawrence vs. Knights for title tonight

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LAWRENCE – One of the best pitching matchups Eastern Mass. can muster takes place tonight, here at Mark Devlin Field in the finals of the 30th annual Lawrence Invitational Tournament.

 

Last night, both MVC small champ Lawrence and Cape Ann League champion North Andover punched their tickets in style, setting up what should be a classic.

 

The 15-3 Lancers send right Victor Mendez (7-0, 1.28 ERA, 71K in 49.1 IP) to the mound for the 7:30 p.m. first pitch in the title game.  The 17-1 Knights counter with southpaw Mike Weisman (5-0, 1.67 ERA, 60K in 42 IP).

 

“It’s the matchup everyone wanted, I’m excited to be pitching against them,” said Mendez, recently named the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 2 MVP. “I love to face the best competition, and he’s a great pitcher. And I think we want a little revenge (for the Knights’ 2-1 extra-innings win in the early season).”

 

Here’s how the teams earned their spots in the final.

 

KNIGHTS’ LEAVITT FLIRTS WITH NO-NO

 

The best-kept secret – probably in Division 2 North – just keeps getting better.

 

North Andover junior Tyler Leavitt carried a no-hitter into the seventh as No. 5 North Andover dominated Tewksbury, 10-2, in the early-evening opener.

 

Leavitt, now 6-0 on the year saw his bid for a no-no end on a Jeff Rauseo bloop single down the line in right with one out in the seventh.

 

“Around the second inning, I could feel I was hitting my spots. I knew I had the chance for a good day,” said the southpaw, who had last flirted with a no-hitter a year ago against Amesbury, only to have that one broken up with two away in the seventh.

 

“After a while I knew I had the no-hitter going. It didn’t bother me at all, right up to the last inning. I thought I had a good shot, especially when (right-fielder) Dan Laorenza made the catch of his life out there (a sixth-inning web gem).”

 

Leavitt, who helped his own cause with three of the Knights’ 11 hits, surrendered a pair of runs in the seventh on a couple of ground singles up the middle before Mike Borzi came on to induce the game-ending double play.

 

Leavitt struck out nine and walked just three. On the year, he’s got 43 Ks and only seven free passes.

 

Meanwhile, the Knights,  batting .343 as a team and averaging 9.0 runs a game, just kept mashing.

 

Mike Weisman doubled and singled, driving in a pair. Brandon Walsh roped a pair of doubles, notching area-leading RBI No. 31 on the year. Dan Laorenza chipped in two hits, while Dom Nicolosi homered to left in the third and followed it with a sac fly to plate one more in the seventh. LANCERS BLUDGEON BASEBALL

 

A brisk wind was blowing straight out, and Lawrence High rode the breeze to perfection, smacking 13 hits including three homers in a 16-1 demolition of Methuen.

 

Darwin Brito and Juan Ventura jacked back-to-back bombs to open the second, and Edwin Brito added a 3-run blast of his own in the fourth.

 

Brito paced the attack with three hits, driving in four. Juan Ventura, Jose Cedano and Anthony Rodriguez all had multi-hit nights for the Lancers.

 

Yunior Vasquez fought control problems through 4.2 innings to earn the win for the Lancers.

 

The loss eliminates Methuen from any shot at the postseason. Now 7-11, the Rangers finish up with two games vs. Tewksbury, including today’s consolation here at 4:30.

 

Corey Shepherd singled and doubled for Methuen, and Nick Buote doubled.  

Game Statistics:

Methuen (1):  Cody Cyr cf 4-0-0, Corey Shepherd 2b 4-1-2, Eric Lacroix lf 1-0-0, Cal Carroll ss 4-0-0, Bobby Cole 3b 2-0-0, Paul Tomacchio ph 1-0-0, Evan Cyr p 2-0-0, Kevin Higgins rf 2-0-0, Cam Cyr 1b 1-0-0, Jared McAdam ph 1-0-0, Nick Buote c 2-0-1, Totals 24-1-3

Lawrence (16):  Juan Ventura cf 4-3-2, Reynaldo Duran ph 1-0-0, Jose Cedano c 4-3-2, Edwin Brito 3b 4-2-3, Victor Mendez ss 3-1-1, Alberto Abreu dh 3-0-1, Ricardo Matos ph 1-0-0, Anthony Rodriguez 2b 2-2-2, Nelson Rodriguez ph 1-0-0, David Quezada lf 2-2-0, Randy Gonzalez ph 1-0-0, Hector Perez 1b 3-1-1, Felix Guilamo ph 1-0-0, Darwin Brito rf 2-1-1, Edison Urena ph 1-0-0, Yunior Vasquez p 0-0-0, Carlos Ditren p 0-0-0, Totals 33-16-13

RBI:  M — Higgins; L — Ventura 3, Cedano 2, E. Brito 4, Mendez 2, Abreu, Perez, D. Brito

WP: Vasquez; LP:  E. Cyr

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