| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| North Andover | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Saturday, June, 12
By Hector Longo
Staff writer
LOWELL - Just like 2009, the North Andover High baseball team had the fight.
But the same state tourney magic was missing.
The shorthanded Knights saw a 7-3 lead after four disappear, dropping a Division 2 North semifinal heartbreaker to Reading, 8-7.
"They're a mentally tough team. They got the hits and made the plays," said North Andover coach Todd Dulin.
The game, which began Thursday then was suspended by rain, opened Saturday morning with a resounding ping that had the Knights flying high.
With one out and a man on in the North Andover fourth, Michael Weisman greeted Reading freshman reliever with a mammoth blast over the fence in right to push a two-run advantage to four.
At that point, Dulin considered moving Weisman back to the mound, but unbeaten Masconomet loomed in the finals and the coach rolled the dice, trying to save his junior lefty.
"I thought about beinging Weisman in right after we went up because I had a feeling if they were going to answer, it would be right then and there," said Dulin. "Obviously we didn't want to pitch him today, but it was a matter of we had to pitch him."
The Rockets bounced right back, slicing three off the margin, before Weisman was summoned. He pitched the Knights out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam, but Reading felt reborn.
A slap single, sacrifice, wild pitch and a passed ball knotted things at 7-7 in the sixth.
And with the lefty Tully settled in, allowing just one hit over the final three frames, the Rockets grabbed the game-winner in the seventh.
Ryan Nelson singled with one out then raced home on a Matt D'Allesio triple to right on a very defensive swing.
"I don't know how that ball didn't slice (foul)," said Dulin. "It was a weird ball. And usually when a kid hits a ball off Mike, it's them sticking the aluminum bat out and it goes."
Without suspended sophomore Brandon Walsh, Dulin tried four different pitches over the two days, including Weisman in two separate stretches.
"I couldn't be more proud of the way they played the last week," said Dulin. "They didn't make any excuses and they came to play. I think we learned a lot about ourselves and learned some valuable lessons."
Alec Jillson and David Foote helped pick up the offensive slack with two hits apiece for North Andover. Brad
Patnaude and Paul Pollano chipped in RBI singles for the Knights, who finish at 18-4.
Reading (8): Andrew Gray lf 3-0-0, Nick Scali cf 2-0-0, Tom Crowley 2b 4-2-1, Mike Shea rf 2-2-1, Jeff Covitz dh 4-1-2, Mac Cook 3b 4-1-2, Alex Ravanis 1b 4-1-1, Ryan Nelson ss 4-1-1, Pat Mahoney cf 2-0-0, matt D'Alessio lf 2-0-1, Steve Ratacik c 1-0-1, Steve Cool p 0-0-0, Scott Tully p 0-0-0, Totals 32-8-10
North Andover (7): David Foote cf 3-2-2, Brad Patnaude 2b 4-1-1, Michael Weisman 1b/p 4-2-2, Alec Jillson rf 4-1-2, Griffin Coakley pr 0-0-0, Paul Pollano dh 4-0-1, Tyler Leavitt p 2-0-0, Dan Laorenza 1b 1-0-0, Pat McNeil p 0-0-0, Dan Daley 1b 0-0-0, Cam Couillard ss/p 2-1-1, Mike Borzi 3b/ss 2-0-0, Matt Hogan lf/3b 2-0-0, Totals 28-7-9
RBI: R - Shea, Covitz 2, Cook, Ravanis 2, D'Alessio; NA - Foote, Patnaude, Weisman 2, Jilson, Pollano, Couillard
WP: Tulley; LP: Weisman
NA Pitching - Leavitt 2.1 ip, 3er, 4h, 2bb, 2k; Couillard 1ip, 3er, 3h, 1bb, 1k, McNeil 0ip, 0r, 1h, 0bb, 0k; Weisman 3.2 ip, 1r, 4h, 1bb, 4k
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