RallyNorth.net

LOWELL — By the way they performed over the previous 20-plus games, you would never have believed that Lawrence High didn't get a sniff of respect in the preseason and had to rip through an 11-2 Merrimack Valley Conference season before anyone outside of the city even gave a second glance.

Fighters to the end, the upstart Lancers pushed Acton-Boxboro to the limit last night at Alumni Field, ultimately faltering in the ninth and falling, 6-3, in the Division 1 North semifinal.

"(All losses) hurt, but we gave up some crucial plays, mental mistakes, and they made the plays and got the big hits when they had to," said coach Brendan Neilon, whose MVC Division 2 champion Lancers finish at 17-6.

Leading 2-0 and then 3-2 into the ninth, the Lancers fell three outs short of their second straight sectional title game when A-B put up four in the top of the ninth.

The flurry ended a great bid by the Lancers, who graduated eight key starters a year ago, and came into 2011 as a total question mark.

"Pitching was obviously the key for us," said Neilon. "But who would have thought that (Edwin) Brito would hit .500 for us? He was a monster, and Vic (Mendez) was a monster. These guys bought into the system. If you would have said we'd be in the North semifinals with a chance to win it in the ninth, people would have thought you were crazy."

Senior Yunior Vasquez strapped the Lancers on his back for an amazing ride last night. The righty got nicked for single runs in the seventh and eighth, but still led 3-2 as he took the hill for the ninth.

"Yunior is a senior, and he pitched great all game," said Neilon. "He still was pumping it up pretty good. We thought he could get three more outs and it didn't work out. He pitched great. He had them off balance all game, and he deserved better."

Vasquez ran into trouble in the ninth, allowing double and a single that knotted it at 3-3 in the ninth.

Neilon then went to Mendez, who with short rest and limited warmups, was touched for three more hits and a walk as A-B pulled ahead, 6-3.

"They played good defense and hung around," said Neilon of the Colonials. "They wait for other teams to make mistakes and they win. That's what they do."

Lawrence picked up a single run in the first when Juan Ventura tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Darwin Brito singled, moved up on an error and scored on a Ventura double in the third.

Even after it went to 2-2, the Lancers showed their resilence once more when Edwin Brito reached on an error, stole second, took third on a passed ball and raced home on a Mendez sacrifice fly.

But the run and the Lancers season ultimately and abruptly came to a halt in the A-B ninth.