RallyNorth.net

Sun, May 24, 2009 07:00 PM @ Lawrence

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
Andover	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	5
Lawrence	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Carlson, Andover slay Lawrence

Sunday, May, 24 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LAWRENCE - Andover High sent a shudder through Division 1 North the last two days and in the process picked up its 15th title at the 28th Lawrence Invitational Baseball Tournament.

For the second straight night, the Warriors banked on and received a dominating mound effort, this one a Shawn Carlson three-hitter, to knock off Lawrence High, 5-1, and claim the championship before about 250 fans encircling Mark Devlin Field.

"We're a different team now," said coach Ken Maglio, whose team entered the weekend without a ticket to the Division 1 North dance and leaves it with the "team nobody wants to see early" tag.

Flame-throwing classmate John Farrell set the bar high in the semis with 17 strikeouts in a 1-0 gem against North Andover. Carlson responded with some 90 mph gas and a nasty 80 mph deuce to improve to 6-0 on the year.

"They beat us 1-0 in the last game, and that's a good hitting lineup," said Carlson. "First inning I really didn't have it, but my defense backed me up. That double-play (on a tough one-hopper up the middle by John Hennessy) was huge."

Escaping that trouble, Carlson found his breaking ball. The hook was a license to dominate.

"If I didn't have a breaking ball, they would have smashed me all day," said Carlson. "It gave them a different pitch to look at."

Carlson owned the second through fifth innings, surrendering only a Harvey Blanco double. Meanwhile, his Andover mates improvised and attacked Lancer starter Yunior Vasquez.

The Warriors took the lead in the fourth with a pair of runs when Vasquez loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter.

Dan Colombo's infield grounder plated one, and Christian Lightner's drag bunt hugged the third base line for a hit to score the eventual game-winner.

"We felt like we had to put pressure on them," said Maglio. "Lightner's a very good bunter, and that was a great one."

With the lead, Carlson oozed confidence and actually gained velocity as the night went on.

Lawrence, trailing 3-1, had one last gasp, when Tito Lluberes walked to open the sixth.

On a hit-and-run Blanco rapped a three hopper to deep short, but Hennessy, who at first broke to cover second, somehow reversed his direction and made the out at first.

"We just got clutch plays on defense," said Carlson. "And we got lucky, too."

Andover's good fortune came when the Lancer cleanup man, Mike Calzetta, drilled a liner through the box. The ball caromed off Carlson's lower leg and flew to third baseman Alex Patti, who nailed Calzetta at first.

Instead of a run in and a man on with one out, the Lancers stranded the runner at third, coming away empty.
Hennessy chipped in a late RBI hit and scored the fifth run for the Warriors, who finish the regular year at 11-9, awaiting the tournament.

"This win should give us a ton of confidence," said Farrell. "Winning this tournament is important. Now hopefully, we can carry this on to the states."

Vasquez, the Lawrence sophomore, didn't pitch poorly, striking out nine, but was hurt by five walks and three errors behind him.

Pitching pair shares MVP

For the fourth time in Lawrence Invitational history, a pair of teammates shared the Frank Brucato MVP Award.
Who could quibble with the selection of Carlson and Andover semifinal winner John Farrell.

The two senior righties, each potential draft choices in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, delivered blue-chip efforts.

"One run allowed over 15 innings, that's pretty good," said Maglio.

Farrell struck out 17 in his semifinal final, eight-inning shutout win on Saturday night against North Andover - pitching with the added pressure of his club needing a win to clinch a state tourney berth.

And Carlson, after getting nicked for a quick run, simply slammed the door on the MVC small school champs, putting his troops in position to win.

Tourney wrap

North Andover knocked off Methuen, 12-5, and Masconomet denied Tewksbury a 12th straight trip to the state tournament, dropping the Redmen, 9-6. ...
Andover picked up big lifts on the weekend from a couple of unexpected sources. Junior Dan Colombo scored the winning run, racing home in the eighth against North Andover and added a huge RBI grounder for the first run against Lawrence. And sophomore Mike McQuillan, a JV callup not even listed on the roster, played a solid game defensively at first base and added a hit.