Fall to Stoneham in D3 North semifinals
Published July 1, 2021
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
READING — Last week, in a brief 48-hour span, the North Reading high school baseball team made its way from the heights of jubilation, after convincingly defeating one of the top-ranked programs in the Bay State, to the depths of despair following a season-ending loss to Stoneham.
After dismantling Wilmington, 10-0, in the MIAA North Division 3 preliminary round, the No. 8-seed Hornets traveled to neighboring Reading to face the top-seeded Austin Prep Cougars in the quarterfinals on June 23. The Hornets, behind stellar pitching from Ryan Baker, superb defense and a pair of four-run innings, toppled one of the region’s highly-touted clubs, 9-4.
The elation was short-lived, however, as North Reading came back to Earth on Friday, suffering elimination in the tournament semifinals, blanked 7-0 by No. 4 Stoneham, which advanced to face a Bishop Fenwick squad that had defeated its last three tournament opponents by a 35-0 margin. Fenwick beat Stoneham 6-0 in the Final.
“I’ll be honest with you – we did talk about trying to avoid a letdown after AP,” said North Reading head coach Eric Archambault, when asked to comment on the about-face in Stoneham. “But this was not a letdown. It wasn’t a lack of emotion, it wasn’t a lack of energy, and it wasn’t teammates not supporting each other. We were just simply outplayed.”
The large contingent of North Reading faithful that filled the stands and lined the fences at Austin Prep’s first-rate stadium sensed they might be in for a treat when Matt Ryan delivered a double to lead off the quarterfinal round. Next was Joe Giacalone, who became one of a half-dozen hit batsmen. Mike Vittozzi bunted to move both baserunners into scoring position and soon, they were safely across on Frank Cassarino’s liner off pitcher Jake Zawatsky’s shin and a passed ball. Nick Ciardiello drove in Cassarino and then scored himself on Alex Carucci’s basehit to make it 4-0 for the visitors.
The 12-2 Cougars answered in the bottom of the first inning, halving the deficit with two-out offense but North Reading got one back in the second. Nick Shea took one between the shoulder blades, later advanced to third on a fielding error, and was plated on an RBI-bunt from Giacalone, to go ahead 5-2.
Artificial surfaces, such as that at Austin Prep, typically produce fast grounders but in this contest, batters were driving for the fences. In left, Carucci got his fare share of work and delivered a flawless performance, ringing up several loud outs.
“Alex Carucci is just a tremendous athlete,” said Archambault, who wrapped up the season with an 11-7 overall mark. “As do all of our kids, he wants the ball hit his way. He definitely wants the opportunity to make those plays and he certainly did today.”
The Cougars crept closer with a run in the bottom of the second but in the third, Baker retired the side on just three pitches. And in the fourth, he pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.
“Ryan Baker has been a stud all season,” said his coach. “He mixes all of his pitches extremely well and the biggest thing is he’s a competitor. He competed with every single pitch and he wasn’t going to back down to them at all.”
North Reading put up a crooked number in the fifth, adding four insurance runs. Nick Shea drove in Ryan McCullough and Carucci with a base hit to short right. Later, with a Hornet on every base, Anthony Juliano jogged home on yet another hit batter and wrapping up the scoring was Shea, who stole home.
“AP is always capable of a comeback which makes those late runs even more important,” said Archambault. “Nick Shea was clutch with those RBIs.”
Austin Prep scored in the fifth but over the final two frames, Baker and the Hornets made quick work of their host and commenced with a much-deserved celebration.
“AP is number one for a reason,” said Archambault. “They’re tremendously coached and loaded with talent. But our kids came in here and weren’t intimidated. They set the tone from the very beginning and just played awesome baseball.”
Moving on to the semifinals in Stoneham, the Hornets came up against hurler Rich Pignone, who clearly enjoyed a career day on the mound. He established himself early, striking out the side in the first inning. The southpaw baffled Hornet batters, allowing just four hits in all. North Reading starter Nick Doucette, meanwhile, fell behind hitters and yielded three runs on four hits in the second inning that proved to be enough. The Spartans added a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to put it out of reach. Vittozzi, McCullough, and Shea recorded hits in the season-ending effort.
“There are aspects of this season that these kids should embrace,” said Archambault. “The AP win, for instance, is something they’ll look back on in 10, 15, or 20 years. This group of kids had something special. They were led by five seniors that always put the team first. They were selfless and always brought energy. They brought this team together and will be extremely hard to replace.”
Departing North Reading seniors include Joe Giacalone, Frank Cassarino, Anthony Juliano, Nick Shea and Michael Vittozzi.
