RallyNorth.net

Walsh, Central repel Lancers

Thursday, May, 14 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LAWRENCE - Brendan Walsh was drowning and about 400 fans had a front row seat.

The Central Catholic senior pitcher never stopped fighting, though. When his teammates through him a rope - with five runs in the fifth - the gritty right-hander did the rest, slamming the door on rival Lawrence and keeping alive Central's drive to defend its MVC large championship.

"If you pitch with nerves, you're not going to survive," said Walsh, who survived six walks and four errors behind him in the 5-3 win last night at Devlin Field.

"This was definitely a big game for us. You just try and let up as little as you can. It comes down to throwing strikes and getting outs."

Central did its only damage of the night in the fifth, piecing together five hits and a walk off Lancers' starter Victor Mendez, who to that point was cruising, and reliever Yunior Vasquez.

Down 3-0, Matt Pelletier put the Raiders on the board with an RBI base hit to left. Pat Noone slapped another run-scoring single and the Raiders tied it when Tim Wheeler drew a hard-earned walk off the flamethrower Vasquez.

Enter hard-nosed senior Andrew Guyer, who because of back woes came in with just 9 official at-bats. The 2008 Eagle-Tribune All-Star turned the tables on Lawrence with a two-run single,his first RBIs of the season.

"Guyer came up big," said Walsh, now 3-2 with the four-hitter. "That's a big bat back in our lineup as we head down the stretch here."

With the two-run lead, Walsh dodged bullets for nine more outs, doing his best with Lancers on the basepaths.
Lawrence stranded three in the fifth and two more in the seventh - 11 on the night.

The Lancers, now 12-3 overall and 8-3 in the MVC, own their own destiny as far as the small school race goes. Win tomorrow at 7-4 Dracut and hang a banner. If not, the race will head the final week.

Mike Calzetta and Jovany Fernandez had RBI hits for Lawrence, while Devin Montanez chipped in a sacrifice fly for the third run.

Central's title defense cranks up another notch this afternoon as the Raiders host Andover. Beat the Warriors today and Lowell Friday night, and Central is assured at least a share.