THE HORNETS are the 2024 Northeast Baseball League champions. (Alicen Encarnacao Racca Photo)
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
NORTH READING — Forty-eight hours after defeating the stubborn Wakefield Townies to claim the Northeast Summer League best-of-three semifinals, the North Reading Hornets were seen joyously stampeding across Carey Park, hoisting a trophy to celebrate a 5-0 Championship Title win over Lowell.
The game wasn’t quite as decisive, however, as the final score would indicate.
Through five innings, the usually potent Hornet bats were subdued by Lowell hurler Timothy Schribman, who allowed only four hits during this span. Fortunately for North Reading, the wiry Lowell starter was victimized by his defense in the third, yielding an unearned run which proved to be the game-winner for the Hornets.
Zach Emery lifted a one-out basehit to right to start the frame. Jason Curran then walked followed by Christian Lava whose routine grounder was bobbled at short. With two outs, Nick Torra worked Schribman for a bases-loaded walk and a go-ahead run.
Most would agree that Lowell was something of a surprise opponent for the title game. Dracut, 2023 defending champion, was the odds-on favorite to repeat. But in the tournament semifinals, Dracut was forced to play the third and deciding game with the minimum player count due to no-shows, which often occurs in summer baseball. Lowell dealt their shorthanded host an 8-0 semifinals defeat, clinching a visit to Carey Park.
ETHAN QUAN earned the win in the Northeast title game, shutting out Lowell through 6 innings in NR’s 5-0 victory. (Alicen Encarnacao Racca Photo)
“Lowell was a good team and we took them very seriously,” said interim North Reading coach Rob Vittozzi, who had been leading the squad while his brother Marco tended to a local youth baseball team competing in Italy. “Both teams played very well and it was a 1-0 game through five innings. We finally broke it open a little bit in the sixth.”
Vittozzi was referring to a sequence when the Hornets batted around the order, scoring four runs on five hits, including a pair of doubles. Ryan Labb opened with a one-out two-bagger to deep center. Dylan Matthews delivered a basehit, sending Labb home after a marathon at-bat featuring nine consecutive pitches fouled off. Lowell reliever Jovani Ubri didn’t fare much better, giving up hits to Christian Lava and Emery and a pair of walks for three additional runs.
Ethan Quan, who suffered a tough 10-3 loss to Wakefield in the middle game of the semifinals, redeemed himself by pitching a shutout against Lowell. Quan enjoyed superb command of his curveball, allowing just three hits.
“I think Ethan pitched well in Wakefield but he did get hit a little bit,” said Vittozzi. “Today, he pitched a great game. He started a lot of batters with two-strike counts which resulted in a number of easy innings. He did an excellent job.”
“My curve ball was on today,” said Quan, who threw an economical 64-pitches in 6 innings on the hill. “I don’t always have the best stuff every day but today, everything was clicking. The defense was making great plays behind me, as well, so that made it a lot easier.”
Matthews was a sure thing in relief of Quan, closing out the final four Lowell hitters with ease.
“When the head coach isn’t here, we tend to relax a little too much,” said Vittozzi, with a laugh. “The kids had a lot of fun today but there’s also a lot of pride on this team. They wanted to win this championship and they were running the basepads with more caution than they had in other games during this tournament.”
THE HORNETS celebrate with their Northeast Baseball League trophy after a 5-0 win over Lowell in the Championship game on Aug. 7 at Carey Park. (Alicen Encarnacao Racca Photo)
