RallyNorth.net

Thu, May 01, 2008 03:45 PM @ Newburyport

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
North Reading	1	0	4	2	0	2	0	9
Newburyport	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Hornets ace silences Newburyport bats with three-hit shutout

Friday, May, 02 By Evan Mugford
Staff writer

When a talented North Reading squad came to town yesterday, the Newburyport baseball team had its eyes set on a few goals: Boosting its record, extending its two-game winning streak, and handing a Hornets club its second loss of the season.

After starting the season 1-4, the Clippers inspired hope that such an upset could occur with wins in five of their last six games. But the Hornets (8-1) rode the arm and bat of Brian O'Neil en route to a 9-0 victory.

O'Neil pitched six shutout innings, allowing three hits and one walk. He struck out six Newburyport batters. He also went 2 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base.

O'Neil found redemption after serving as the losing pitcher in a 9-1 loss to Newburyport last season.

Newburyport (6-6) returned to .500 one day after a victory over North Andover gave the squad its first winning record of the season.

O'Neil juxtaposed great pitching with power hitting, and fittingly got his club off to a nice start in the first after two quick outs by Clippers hurler Tom Morris. O'Neil worked a walk, stole a base, and later scored. The top of the first ended 1-0, and remained that way until North Reading's bats caught fire in the top of the third.

With no outs, the Hornets' patience and ability to locate pitches became a familiar theme. Morris issued three consecutive walks before O'Neil crushed a two-run single. North Reading added two more runs to take a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the third.

Any thoughts of O'Neil throwing a no-hitter was extinguished in that half of the inning when, with two outs, Kevin Crossman (1-2) singled to right field, prompting cheers of relief from the Clippers faithful. Crossman remained stranded at first when Richie Burke became another strikeout victim for O'Neil.

After North Reading pushed the lead to 7-0 in the fourth, the Clippers nearly got on the board in the bottom half when Joe Clancy (2 walks) attempted to score on a Kevin Holmes single, but was ultimately nabbed at the plate.

Newburyport, despite being flat offensively, had the game's two best defensive plays in the top of the fifth | a double play combination involving shortstop Clancy, second baseman Burke and first baseman Alex Puchniak, and a diving catch by center fielder Kyle LeBlanc.

D.J. Grabowski attempted to quell the Hornets offensive onslaught in relief of Morris in the sixth. Instead, O'Neil added another RBI single before scoring on a sacrifice fly to provide the 9-0 final.

Tyler Stotz singled in the sixth before Clancy issued another walk. But the Bryant University-bound ace erased the last three Newburyport batter to seal it.

North Reading coach Frank Carey believes his team had to earn the win despite the lopsided margin of victory.

"Newburyport played very good defense, and they don't give up a whole lot of runs," said Carey. "But we've been hitting the ball rally well this year. To our credit, this is our fourth shutout. We play pretty good defense, too.

"It was just a matter of us hitting the ball better than them today," explained Carey. "Brian hung in there, and personally I think he's the best pitcher in the league. He throws hard, and though he can dominate some hitters, he helps himself by throwing strikes."

Clippers coach Bill Pettingell, who like Carey has 500-plus wins to his resume, agreed with his old friend and competitor about what the Hornets have in O'Neil.

"We played the best we could," explained Pettingell. "We just happened to face a Division 1 college pitcher who throws 88 miles an hour, and nobody in this league is going to come close to hitting him. He's by far the best.

"Every game we've played has been close, competitive," said Pettingell. "We played very well defensively. We got some good experience for Grabowski, who had his first varsity experience. And even though we only managed three hits, we played hard, and I'm proud of them for that.

"The kids are playing hard in practice. We've made some strides on the field, and our captain Richie Burke is doing a great job," stated Pettingell. "We're going to view this as a hiccup and do our best to take down Masconomet on Saturday."