Published in the June 29, 2017 edition
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING – Rich Doucette is the manager of the North Reading 12-year old Little League All-Stars for the upcoming District 13 Williamsport Tournament. This is his third year with the team as he managed them as 10 and 11-years olds the past two seasons.
The team started practice on June 19th and they had a home scrimmage against North Andover last Friday night at Benevento Park. North Reading won that game, 13-12.
“We have a well-rounded team,” said Doucette. “We hit well, have good defense and our pitching is good.”
The top two starters for the team are Craig Rubino and Nick Doucette (Rich’s son). When they are not pitching, Rubino will play shortstop while Doucette will play both short and third base.
The third starting pitcher is Justin Bailey and he also will see some time at third base.
Catching will be Aidan Driscoll while Andrew Daley will play at first base. Alex Carucci will be at second.
In the outfield, Ryan McGuire will play in left field while Ryan McCullough will patrol center field. Sam Morelli will play in right field.
Off the North Reading bench, Garrett Arden is an outfielder while Ryan Baker will play catcher and first base. Zack Rosatone and Brady Miller are also outfielders.
The district consists of six teams and is a pool-play format as North Reading will play every team once. Only the top two teams will advance from the pool.
Along with North Reading, the five other District 13 teams are Stoneham, Reading, Wilmington, Wakefield and Woburn.
They open this Friday at Benevento Park as they take on Reading at 5:30 pm. The second game will be on Sunday morning as they visit Wakefield. That game is at 11 am.
The team will then have some time off with the July 4th holiday coming up next Tuesday.
