THE HORNETS celebrate their season-opening victory over Northeast Metro Tech. (Eric Evans Photo)

 

 

After press time:
North Reading defeats Triton 14-0 (April 13)
North Reading falls to Weston 5-0. (April 9)
North Reading falls to North Andover 6-0. (April 7)

 

By DAN ZIMMERMAN

NORTH READING — One quick glance at the gathering of North Reading faithful, huddled beneath winter parkas and blankets at Tuesday’s season-opener indicated that conditions were not quite suitable for baseball. But in the midst of the numbing cold, the Hornet bats could only be described as red hot.

North Reading, hosting the Northeast Tech Knights in a game pushed back two days due to forecasted rain, scattered 15-hits in a mercy-abbreviated 18-3 rout. Twice, in the second and fourth innings, the Hornets batted around the order, putting up a crooked number in each instance.

While 8 of the team’s 13 players contributed offense, Antonio Ricca emerged on top with a pair of doubles, 4 RBI, and knocked in the eventual game-winner, plating Ethan Quan midway through a marathon second inning. Ricca, along with Ryan Labb, scored three runs while Max Forristall, Tommy Gazda, Jason Curran, Cam Parrett and Quan each crossed with a pair.

“The kids played an awesome game today,” said Coach Eric Archambault, who led the Hornets to an enviable 16-6 finish last season. “They did what they had to do, right from the get-go. They were excited and energetic, despite the difficulties of the pre-season.”

Archambault was referring to the long stretches of inclement weather and rain-soaked playing fields. The coach pointed out that his team had just a single practice on an actual baseball field before Tuesday’s opener. Most of the time, the players were forced to practice indoors. Typically, it’s the fielding that suffers most in these instances but the Hornet defense was highly proficient against the Knights.

“Given the lack of practice time on an actual field, I was impressed with how our team defense played as a cohesive unit,” said the coach.

At the outset, North Reading starter Dylan Matthews gave the Knights a taste of what lie ahead. The sophomore hurler fanned the leadoff man on three pitches and went on to record four strikeouts in the shortened game. In the bottom of the first, North Reading loaded them but came up empty on a two-out base-running snafu. The Hornets more than made up for it, however, in the second, with 9 runs on 7 hits, including doubles from Curran, Ricca and Labb, who later contributed the defensive play of the game by stretching out to snag a liner at second base.

 

DYLAN MATTHEWS got the win in NR’s season-opening victory over Northeast Metro Tech on Tuesday. (Eric Evans File Photo)

Trailing 12-0 in the top of the fourth, Northeast briefly escaped the shadow of the mercy rule with a 3-spot. But North Reading negated the Knights offense and then some, scoring 5 additional runs in the bottom of the inning to ensure an early afternoon.

Out of the gate, the Hornets deployed their trademark aggressiveness, stealing five. This zealous style can only help as they progress deeper into the season and face more competitive clubs.

“We do teach our kids to be very aggressive on the base paths,” said Archambault. “Coaches obviously provide the guidance but we put the ownership on the kids. They take pride in it and understand the importance of getting those extra bases and how they add up over the course of a game.”

In the fifth and final frame, Labb took the hill in relief of Matthews, locking down the season’s first win with a fly-out, ground-out, strike-out sequence.

“We have no seniors on this team, a lot of young kids and five or six players were getting their first varsity start today,”said Archambault. “For those players to come up and put together good at-bats in a competitive situation, I thought they responded very well to that.”

North Reading will next host Weston on Tuesday at 4 p.m.