Published July 16, 2020

By DAN ZIMMERMAN

WILMINGTON – It was nearly a year ago, on a hot August afternoon, when the North Reading Hornets summer baseball team was putting the finishing touches on a 9-0 victory over Wilmington in a Northeast League playoff elimination game.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday evening at Scanlon Field in Wilmington and it was the Hornets, previously undefeated this summer, falling hard in a 9-1 defeat to that same Wilmington club. This was not the North Reading team that we’ve come to know over the years.

From the outset, North Reading struggled on the mound and defensively, as fielders dropped routine fly balls to extend innings.

Wilmington scored six runs in a chaotic first inning and added three in the second to build what proved to be an insurmountable 9-0 lead. North Reading could not find an answer to Wilmington ace Joey Dynan, who went the distance, fanning 10 Hornet batters and allowing only a pair of hits.

“We’ve been playing terrific defense but tonight, we had a few defensive challenges,” said North Reading coach Marco Vittozzi, who is now 4-1 on the season. “That first inning was uncharacteristic of the defense we’ve been playing thus far.”

Starting pitcher Justin Bailey struggled to find his control and was relieved by Sam Morelli early.

“That was Bailey’s first start,” Vittozzi explained. “He fought, but this was another level of baseball. Until tonight, he hadn’t faced a varsity hitting team. I give him credit – he never quit.”

North Reading’s best chance to render offensive damage was in the fourth when Mike Vittozzi led off the inning with a double to deep left. He was followed by Anthony Giuliano, who reached on a fielding error, putting baserunners on the corners. Vittozzi scored on a sacrifice fly to snap the shutout but the Hornet bats soon went quiet.

Wilmington coach Mark Dynan was pleased that he was finally able to defeat what he described as his “nemesis,” particularly after losing all four of last year’s meetings to the Hornets.

“North Reading is always a good team,” he said. “We did handle them tonight but I wouldn’t expect the same thing if we meet up with them again.”

The Hornets are still two points ahead of the 3-1 Wildcats for first place in the South Division.

“We’ve played very well so far,” said Vittozzi. “The attitudes are great but we just ran into a first inning mess tonight. We’ll recuperate from this. We’ll work out tomorrow, and get ready for Lynnfield on Thursday.”

The Hornets and Pioneers play at Lynnfield High School, 6 p.m. tonight. North Reading won the first matchup 5-3 on July 7.