North Andover baseball finds a way vs. Central Catholic

HAVERHILL — When the bats aren’t going quite the way they need to be, the great teams still find a way to produce. And despite a 2-for-11 display with runners in scoring position Thursday afternoon at Northern Essex Community College, that’s exactly what state powerhouse North Andover did.

Behind a two-run fifth inning that saw the Scarlett Knights run the base paths aggressively and take advantage of a costly blunder, North Andover rode timely execution and a gutsy performance from pitcher Ryan Griffin to outlast fellow Merrimack Valley Conference power Central Catholic, 6-4.

Northeastern commit Brett Dunham was right in the middle of it with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs, including the go-ahead run off an error on a throw to the plate. The Raiders had answered every blow with their own with four runs through the first four innings, but Griffin settled down to retire six straight entering the seventh for the eventual win.

Griffin finished with seven strikeouts over six-plus innings, while Trevor Crosby did damage control in the seventh to earn the save in a huge matchup.

“(The Raiders) are tough, they fight. It’s always fun playing them,” said North Andover (5-0) head coach Todd Dulin. “Every game seems to come down to one play. … (Griffin) did well to get us deeper into the game.”

“It’s a 14-game season so every game matters, but when you see Central’s record, this pumps you up,” added Dunham. “Good to get the win off them.”

For as much as the Knights struggled to produce hits with runners in scoring position against Central Catholic pitchers Thomas Green (3 2/3 innings, three runs, one earned, five strikeouts) and Tyler Normandie (3 1/3 innings, two unearned runs), the four runs they scrapped through the first four innings were enough to support the offense until the go-ahead fifth.

Dunham led off the inning with a double and an aggressive advance to third on a ground ball to shortstop. After Andrew Perry walked, Dunham advanced again on a ball to the shortstop, which was thrown to the plate for an almost sure run-down situation. But the ball was thrown in the dirt, and North Andover took a 5-4 lead as CJ Carpentier and Perry advanced to second and third.

Aiden Lynch followed with a sacrifice fly, seemingly negating a poor outing with runners in scoring position.

“I think it’s just, we’re battling at the plate,” Dunham said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all year so far. Just be tough up there … be a pest on the bases and just put pressure on the other team. I think that’s what we did and it paid off.”

Central Catholic had plenty of fight throughout, responding to North Andover’s three-run third inning with its own by flustering Griffin with five straight base runners to open the frame. Jeremy Delacruz, Kyle Espinola (3-for-4, two RBI) and George Chaya (3-for-4, two runs) each scored while Matthew Maloney and Charlie Antonopoulos drove runs in.

Paul Fernandez re-claimed the lead for the Knights in the fourth on a controversial illegal blocking of the plate call, scoring on a throw home following a Derek Finn single that originally was deemed an out.

Chaya and Espinola helped tie it back up in the fourth, then knocked Griffin out of the game in the seventh with singles to lead off the frame. But Crosby forced a double play on the next at-bat, and punched out the last batter to seal it.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/340uvxl