North Reading district champion 11-year-olds have a season to remember

 

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

NORTH READING — It was a good showing by the North Reading 11-year-old All-Star baseball team this summer as they reached the sectional finals before losing to Reading, 4-3, back on July 15 at Pollard Field in Billerica.

It was a tough loss to swallow for manager James Boviard and his squad as Reading plated three runs with two outs in the sixth to win it.

“It was a big-time heart-breaker,” admitted Boviard, who has been coaching this team for two years.

It was the second meeting between the two teams in two days as Reading won, 5-2, on July 14.

“Since we won our first two games, we knew that we already qualified for the finals so we put in our backup pitchers and saved our top pitchers for the finals,” explained Boviard.

On July 13, North Reading defeated West Peabody by a final of 8-6.

“We had only six hits but they were timely hits,” said Boviard.

Relief pitcher Nathan Boviard was the winner going the final four innings. He gave up three runs, five hits, two walks and he struck out four. He helped his own cause at bat with a three-run double.

The team also flexed its muscles with a pair of home runs as Cam Mead had a homer to left field while Jackson Hodge homered to left as well.

West Peabody led this game early, 3-0, but North Reading was able to right the ship and outscored them, 8-3, the rest of the game.

In the opening game of the sectionals on July 12, North Reading edged Danvers 8-7. This game was a roller coaster ride as North Reading led, 4-0, but Danvers fought back and led, 6-4, heading into the fifth inning.

Gabe Dias then came up big with a two-run single in the top of the fifth to tie the game.

Tyler Vautin had a sacrifice fly to give North Reading the lead again and Ben Borkowski added an RBI single to make it 8-6.

Danvers scored one run but North Reading was able to hold on.

Vautin was the winning pitcher in relief going 2.1 innings. He gave up one run, four hits, three walks and he did not strike anybody out.

In the District 13 title game on July 1, North Reading beat visiting Andover, 8-6, at Benevento Field.

Things looked great early on as North Reading stormed out to a 7-0 lead. However, Andover fought back plating four runs in the fourth and kept chipping away.

“I give them a lot of credit for the way they fought back,” said Boviard.

Mead was the winning pitcher in this going 4.1 innings. He gave up four runs, four hits, two walks and he fanned nine.

Hodge recorded the save, pitching the final 1.2 innings.

Jace Dunn led the offense going 2 for 2 with a walk. Mead was 2 for 3 with one RBI.

Andover committed three errors which allowed North Reading to score a few runs.

“We were able to take advantage of their defensive mistakes,” said Boviard.

It was a pitcher’s dual on June 28 as North Reading nipped host Billerica 2-1. Mead was the starter going 2.2 innings as he gave up no runs, no hits, one walk and he struck out eight. Vautin recorded the saves going the rest of the game allowing one run, one hit, two walks and he struck out four.

“It was a gutsy performance by both of them,” recalled Boviard.

Both of North Reading’s runs came on errors in the first and fourth innings.

It was a different story on June 28 as North Reading blanked Wilmington, 14-0, in a five-inning mercy-rule game at Benevento.

The offense pounded out 14 hits led by Mead who went a perfect 3 for 3 with a walk. He also knocked in two runs.

Hodge also had a big game going 3 for 4 with four RBI including a three-run homer. He was also the winning pitcher going four innings. Dunn pitched the fifth to preserve the shutout.

The other multiple hitter that game was Dom Hullett who went 2 for 3 with two RBI.

On the hill, Hodge gave up two hits, four walks and he fanned seven.

In the opening game of the districts, North Reading beat Andover, 11-3, at Benevento.

In the third inning, the locals took control scoring eight times as they finished the game with 10 hits.

 “We had seven different kids get hits,” pointed out Boviard, as the attack was spread out.

Hulett was 2 for 2 with one RBI while Hodge as 2 for 3 with one RBI.

The third multiple hitter was Mead who went 2 for 4.

Mead got the win on the hill going 3.2 innings.

Overall, Boviard was pleased with his team’s performance as they ended up 6-2 overall.

“I was very proud of them,” he stated. “It was a total team effort and everybody contributed.”
Boviard also wanted to point out the outstanding defensive play of center fielder Nik Traino.

The assistant coaches were Matt Libby, Jeff Mead, Tom Vautin and Jason Traino.

“They were all a big help,” said Biviard. “I am hoping to coach them next year in the Williamsport (12-year old) Tournament.”