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North Andover ekes past Lawrence

Saturday, April, 09 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE — When he compiled his team’s schedule, North Andover baseball coach Todd Dulin knew it wouldn’t be easy early in the season with four Division 1 opponents before heading into the Division 2 Cape Ann Conference slate.

Opening against two of the three teams that tied for the Merrimack Valley Conference crown last year, the Scarlet Knights have shown mixed results.

“We wanted our kids to be tested as hard as they could be tested,” Dulin said. “I want to see tight games. With our two starters, there won’t be a game we don’t feel we have a chance to win.”

After committing six errors in an opening-day 11-8 loss to Andover earlier in the week with ace Mike Weisman on the mound, North Andover rebounded with a well-pitched 2-1, 11-inning victory over Lawrence yesterday afternoon. Next up for the Scarlet Knights is a home game against Malden Catholic on Friday followed by a road trip to Needham.

“We feel pretty good about ourselves, but we still have a lot ahead of us,” said Dom Nicolosi, who ignited the winning rally with a leadoff double to straight away center before scoring on David Foote’s single. “So, we just have to keep getting better and keep doing what we do.”

Starter Brandon Walsh, who allowed a first-inning run and went seven, and Tyler Leavitt, who earned the win with four innings of two-hit relief, combined for 15 strikeouts while allowing only four hits and five walks.

In the eighth and 11th innings, Leavitt stranded a runner on second, in the 10th he gave up a lead-off double to Juan Ventura, who was left hanging at third, and in the ninth he had runners on second and third with one out before back-to-back strikeouts. The junior left-hander left Lawrence batters uneasy with a nice breaking ball.

“I just wanted to do my job as the pitcher and keep hitters off balance,” Leavitt said. “That’s all I try to do when I go out and it worked for me today. They didn’t let me throw (the curve) when I was younger because they didn’t want me to hurt my arm, so I never threw it in Little League. It was all fastball and changeup until I got older and started to develop. It’s definitely progressed and I have a lot of confidence in that pitch.”

Lawrence, which defeated Malden 1-0 on Friday behind a 1-hit, 12-strikeout complete-game performance from Victor Mendez, got another strong outing from a starting pitcher. Yunior Vasquez went the first seven innings, allowing two hits and an unearned run in the third with 13 strikeouts. The senior stranded nine runners, six in scoring position. For the game, North Andover left 15 runners on base, 10 in scoring position. But after playing 18 innings in the first two games, the Lancers have managed only eight hits.

“Vic Mendez was an all star last year, and Yunior Vasquez is as good as advertised,” Lawrence coach Brendan Neilon said. “We knew pitching was our strength, but we’re not hitting like I’d hoped. I’m the coach, so I have no one to blame but myself. It’s up to me to get these guys where we need them to go.”