Finally hitting high notes
Brookline bats power strong start
Bay State Carey member schools Braintree and Newton North have been regulars in the Super Eight baseball tournament since its inception four years ago. It might be time to add another team from that league to that watchlist.
Brookline (8-3) has wins over Newton North — which nabbed some revenge with a 8-1 win on Friday — and reigning Division 1 state finalist Wellesley. Steady pitching and defense are an annual hallmark for the Warriors, but they have become proficient with the bats.
“I think we hit something like .220 last year and we are over .300 this year,” said coach Joe Campagna. “We haven’t hit a home run in three years and outfielder Peter Montgomery already has two this year.”
Six regulars in the Warriors’ lineup are hitting better than .300: shortstop Ryan Leung (.433), catcher Mitchell Schroeder (.346 with eight RBI), Montgomery (.345), outfielder Maxine Duchesne (.330), second baseman Noah Thomas (.324) and third baseman Reo Shimbori (.321).
Josh Richardson, who was 4-3 with a 1.49 ERA, was expected to be the staff ace, but he transferred to Dexter. Silas Reed has more than filled the void; he is 4-0 with a no-hitter and an 0.56 ERA, while Casey Wisel is 2-2 with a 2.68 ERA.
“Silas has stepped up for us. Casey has been good and Charlie Brown has done the job as our closer,” said Campagna, referencing Brown and his two saves. “We were disappointed Josh left, but the other guys have picked up the slack.”
Picture perfect
The Arlington softball team set the tone for the season in the opening week, with final-inning rallies to beat both Cambridge and Haverhill, the catalyst for a season-opening 7-0 start.
“The thing I like was the confidence the girls had,” said Spy Ponders coach Matt O’Loughlin. “They were acting like they knew they would find a way to win the game.”
Hopes were high as they returned a quartet of four-year starters in first baseman Ellie Demaree, centerfielder Abi Ewen, leftfielder Allie Britt and third baseman/catcher Holly Russell. Those four bat in the upper half of the lineup along with leadoff hitter Emily Benoit.
“I still don’t think we’ve put it all together yet offensively,” O’Loughlin said. “Once we get everyone hitting, I think we’re capable of scoring a lot of runs.”
Sharing the pitching duties are sophomore Natalie Swift and junior Faith Griffin, who is coming back from a labrum injury.
May day in Danvers
When Roger Day took over the baseball program at Danvers in 1987, his simple goal was to return the Falcons to the glory days of yesteryear.
Five hundred wins later, one can say Day did his job well.
The Hall of Famer became the 16th baseball coach in state history to amass 500 wins last Wednesday when his Falcons defeated Gloucester, 5-1, to improve to 8-1. The win was the fifth straight for Danvers since an 11-3 loss to Beverly.
“The big thing for me is that this is good for Danvers baseball,” Day said. “When I got the job, we hadn’t been to the tournament in 10 years or something like that, so I was hoping to get things back to where they were when John McGrath was coaching.
“We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to keep the tradition going for a long time. I don’t worry about the 500 wins as much as I worry about titles. We’ve won 16 Northeastern Conference titles in the last 19 years and the nice thing is being able to tell kids that when they put a banner up in the fieldhouse, it is their team.”
It was telling that the first thing Beverly coach Dave Wilbur could talk about after beating the Falcons was the significance of beating a Roger Day-coached team because of the respect he had for him and his program.
Day insists that he has not changed his coaching personality in the least bit. Given the success he’s had for more than three decades, one can see why Day has kept on coaching.
“The kids are the same,” Day said. “We do the same thing we’ve done all along. We’re going to play good fundamental baseball, we’re going to play with a football attitude. We’re going to be aggressive and not be afraid to make mistakes.
“The only thing I’ve done is add some sort of new drill every year, some sort of technique to teach the kids. That’s the kind of thing that keeps me going every year.”