RallyNorth.net

Raiders impressive in early going

Thursday, April, 17 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

A talented junior class had Central coach Marc Pelletier enthused in the preseason. Because of it, the coach kept 20 players, four or five more than usual.

The Raiders are off to a 3-0 start, scoring 17, 11 and 10 runs in those games. And that's with a pair of impact players, Marc Crowley and Michael Romano out of the lineup with injuries.

Remember, this is a team that lost a pair of legitimate sluggers to graduation in Steve Schultz and Greg Holmes.

"Guys are hitting up and down the lineup," said Valenti. "I don't think we even expected this kind of a start."

Central has gotten a big boost behind the plate from junior Andrew Guyer.

The North Andover native is already 6 for 12 with a dozen RBIs and six runs scored.

Pelletier's constantly morphing lineup has also been buoyed by the return of third baseman Ryan Kemp to the team. Meanwhile, surprising Robbie Taylor has filled in nicely at short, where Crowley or Romano have spent time starting.

The final component has been the pitching, with three quality starts (Brendan Walsh, Zak Adamopoulos and Matt Novak) this spring.

Walsh, who no-hit Amesbury last week, is fresh and ready to tangle with the four-time reigning MVC champ Golden Warriors at Andover today.