Published in the May 25, 2017 edition
NORTH READING – The North Reading Little League Majors playoffs are right around the corner, but before the postseason action begins, Little Leaguers of all ages will continue another grand old tradition: marching in the town’s annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday.
Players from Tee-Ball, Instructional, Farm, Minors, Majors, and even the Senior League are asked to dress in their team uniforms and meet up with their teammates and coaches at the Town Common between 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Last year, more than 100 Little Leaguers took part.
Following the parade, NRLL’s six Farm teams will head to Benevento Field for some holiday baseball. The Mets will play the Reds, the Blue Jays meet the Giants, and the Indians battle the A’s.
Action continues on the diamond. Here’s a recap of some recent games:
MAJORS — The North Reading Orioles hosted the Wilmington Orioles under the Benevento Field lights last Friday night in their final game of “interleague” play. Capitalizing on a complete team effort, the hometown Orioles came away with a 5-2 victory.
The pitching combination of Garrett Trentsch, Alex Carucci, and Sam Morelli held the visitor’s bats in check through the first three innings. Offensively, the Orioles jumped out to a 4-0 lead with some patient at-bats and timely hits from Craig Rubino (2-3, RBI, 2 SB), Aidan Driscoll (1-2, 3 RBI), Morelli, and Carucci.
As the game moved into the late innings, Wilmington was able to break through and push across a run to make it 4-1. They would then load the bases with one out before the home team summoned their ace, Rubino, and he would deliver. He struck out back-to-back batters on six pitches to snuff out the threat.
In the bottom of the fourth, the NR Birds plated a big insurance run on an opposite field double by Carucci. Rubino came back out for the fifth and continued his dominance, striking out all three batters he faced, finishing with five K’s on a tidy 17-pitch effort.
In the sixth, Brandon Eng took to the hill and delivered once again. He gave up a solo shot to the Orioles’ cleanup hitter, then settled in and retired the next three batters to end the game and earn the save.
The victory improved the Orioles to 9-6 on the season and pushed them into a first-place tie with the Diamondbacks. The White Sox (7-6) are one game behind. Teams finish the regular season on Friday night and the playoffs get underway Wednesday, May 31.
MINORS — The Scrappers and Red Wings engaged in another nail biter that came down to the final out, and similar to the first two meetings, the Scrappers emerged victorious.
Once again, pitching was key to lifting the Scrappers. Jackson Wesley started and picked up the victory, hurling three innings, striking out seven, and yielding only two hits. Nick Torra pitched the final three innings to earn the save, and matched Wesley’s stat line, striking out seven and allowing only two hits.
Halfway through the game, the Scrappers found themselves ahead, 4-0. Key hits included RBI singles by Finn Rodger and Nick Santiago. The Red Wings, however, battled back in the fourth, scoring three runs of their own, the big hit being a bases-clearing double to right field by Tanner DuPriest.
The Scrappers countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase their margin to 6-3, the key at-bat being an RBI hit by Wesley. But as is the norm for the Red Wings, they battled to the end. In the top of the sixth, Connor Gatusso led off the inning with a seven-pitch walk, fouling off a couple of tough pitches. Liam Blanchette followed up with an RBI triple and scored on an Otto Indelicato ground out. With the score 6-5 with one out, Torra was able to get the next batter to pop out and then posted a strike out to end the game.
Giving the victors a boost were Gavin Wesley, Michael Pittore, and Josh DiBono, each of whom got a hit. DuPriest and Blanchette were the offensive stars for the Red Wings with two hits each. Gatusso started on the mound for the Red Wings and gave his team a solid 2.1 innings, striking out six and only allowing two hits.
FARM — It was an exciting Saturday afternoon contest between the Blue Jays and the Indians, with lots of big hits and plays in the field by both teams.
The highlights included Christian Lava’s three hits, one of those a bases-loaded triple that reached the fence. Jack Gattuso had another nice hit to the opposite field and fans saw some amazing hustle on the base paths from Damion Pagliuca and Nathan Guimont.
To his parents he is Brendan, to others he is known as “B,” but when he takes the field, he’s simply called “Legend” … Brendan Nelson got the bat going with two solid hits as well as playing center field, catcher, and pitcher. Owen Bouchie had another nice hit to drive in a run, and Dylan Harris continues to club the ball; for the second week in a row, he found the outfield with a hit.
When James Nelson wasn’t behind the plate, he was making plays at pitcher, including a great catch in the fourth inning. Patrick McGaffigan continued to connect at each at-bat and did a great job in center field, while Tyler Boviard put in yet another solid performance, holding down first base and continuing to hit the cover off the ball.
Vincent “VP” Pagliuca enjoyed another solid day at the plate and in the field, making a great play at third base to end the fourth inning, while Frankie Dearborn made one of the big plays of the day. Playing catcher and with the bases loaded, he responded to the call of Coach Nelson from behind the plate and covered home for a force out on a hit to the pitcher, saving a run.
BIG DIAMOND — Congratulations to the North Reading players selected to the Massachusetts Big Diamond League Senior All-Star Game, being played tonight at Woburn’s Ferullo Field.
From the Yankees, Daniel Lignos, Matt Solecki, and Alex Wallner were chosen. The Rays are represented by Matthew Capozzoli, Dante Centofanti, Joey Frammartino, and Ryan Veneziano.
On the field, the Yankees clipped the Wilmington Cardinals, 13-3. The hits started early for the Yankees, who netted three runs in the first inning behind doubles by Matt Solecki and Chris Gwozdz and singles by Aiden Wyatt and Jimmy Currier. In the second inning, the Yankees picked up five more runs on hits by Alex Wallner, Michael Vittozzi, Wyatt, Gwozdz, and Currier.
Wallner went the distance on the mound and was helped by strong defense throughout the game. He enjoyed a 1-2-3 third inning, which included a heads-up throw from right field to first by Gerry Callagy, catching the unsuspecting runner for an out.
