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Weisman, Knights slay Masco

Thursday, May, 21 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER - Mike Weisman's emotions had nowhere to hide.

As the hit-free innings piled up in last night's Lawrence Invitational Tournament opener, the new Mark Devlin Field's scoreboard kept driving the point home.

"How could I not know," queried the North Andover High sophomore, who dominated rival Masconomet in an 8-2 win.

"I just had to turn around. It's hard to miss it."

Victory was twice as sweet for the Knights, who carved out a Cape Ann League title split with the Chieftains and earned a late Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) Lawrence Invitational semifinal date with Andover.

"Back to back (co-championships), that's pretty good," said the southpaw Weisman, who improved to an area-best 7-1 with 52/3 innings of two-hit, nine-strikeout ball. "I was having trouble throwing strikes. I started aiming the ball a little instead of firing."

When he unleashed, Weisman reigning, blitzing through four no-hit innings before Pat Matvichuk lined a single to left with two out in the Masco fifth.

His North Andover mates gave Weisman a nice cushion, batting around for five runs in the second.
Weisman drew a walk with the bases loaded for one, and Ryan Sifferlen plated two more with a base hit. Brad Patnaude and sophomore Alec Jilson chipped in RBI hits, chasing Masco ace Kevin Anderson.

From there, Weisman worked meticulously around eight walks and two hit-batters to never be seriously threatened. Frosh Brandon Walsh closed things out, rescuing Weisman from a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with a strikeout, followed by a hitless seventh.

Both the Knights and Chieftains finish at the top of the CAL. A year ago, each earned a quarter of the championship, which was shared by both along with Wilmington and Pentucket.

"We knew we had to come out strong, we knew they were tough," said Sifferlen. "We knew they already had their share. We had to get ours."

Sizzling Sifferlen

Who's hotter than North Andover senior Ryan Sifferlen right now?

The Knight center fielder went 2 for 4 last night, his fourth straight multiple hit game. Sifferlen has gone 12 for his last 16, pumping up the average to .462 for the year.

"Now we have to keep it going," said Sifferlen, who is 30 of 65 for the year.

A peaceful feeling away from the game, with Sifferlen deciding on UMass Amherst, seems to have done wonders for the southpaw's swing.

Giving up the dream on skates, where Sifferlen was the 2008 Eagle-Tribune Hockey Player of the Year, wasn't easy.

"Giving up hockey was tough," said Sifferlen, who put serious thought into the prep school/juniors route to a possible Division 1 hockey career.

Instead, he plans to walk-on at UMass, which gets a 6-foot-3 speed burner with excellent plate coverage, power to all fields and superb outfield instincts.

"I've wanted to go to UMass since eighth grade," added Sifferlen. "When the opportunity came up, I just jumped at it.

"My parents wanted me to go to school now. And I didn't want to come out of school at the age of 23-24, when all my friends were already out in the workforce. I think focussing on baseball most of the year will help a lot."

Instant classic now set

Andover, with depleted pitching, had an excuse the last time and the Knights pounced, outslugging the Warriors, 10-7.

In Saturday's semi, the Warriors will most likely throw senior all-conference righty Shawn Carlson (5-0, 1.45 ERA) at North Andover.

"We beat them already, they're going to be gunning for us," said Sifferlen, who noted his club is excited to tackle Carlson's 90 mph heater. "We usually hit the fastball well. It's going to be a tough test."
















 

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• Weisman, Knights slay Masco