All rolling for N. Attleboro
Rookie North Attleboro baseball coach Mike Hart says there is no deep, dark secret why his team is out to a 12-1 start. It all boils down to good old-fashioned work.
“We have a bunch of seniors who have done a lot of work in the offseason,” said Hart, who took over the program after spending the last eight seasons as an assistant. “This is a group that just keeps grinding and responding in tough spots. Even after we lost to Mansfield (3-1 on May
2), they battled back and found ways to win games after that.”
One area which clearly jumps out is the pitching. Only two opponents (Mansfield and Canton) have managed to score more than two runs against the Red Rocketeers.
The ace of the staff is senior right-hander Nick Sinacola, 6-0 with a no-hitter against Stoughton to his credit. Peter Cohen (3-1) has been solid as the No.2 starter, while Matt Wanless is 2-0.
“Nick is throwing more strikes than before,” Hart said. “He’s mixing his pitches up more and trusting his ability. Peter would probably be the ace on most other teams, so we’re very happy to have the two of them.”
The other part of the successful battery, catcher Zach DeMattio, ranks among the leading hitters in the Hockomock League with a .546 average. Three others are also better than .300: Brendan McHugh (.455), Jeff Gale (.385) and Nick Raneri (.323).
Good pitching and timely hitting have led to a seamless transition. Hart feels the biggest adjustments in going from an assistant to head coach lie more at the administrative end.
“You have to think about the entire program now, all the way down to the freshmen, not just the 15 guys on the varsity,” Hart said. “I do think there is a comfort zone because they know I’ve coached and done things in the past.”
Undefeated no longer
It was not a good week to be undefeated on the softball front.
The first salvo came last Monday when Acton-Boxboro handed No. 4 Concord-Carlisle (12-1) its first loss, 9-7, on a two-run homer by Kylie Frank (2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored) in the last of the sixth inning. Lauren Meinhold went the distance for her 10th win of the season and helped her own cause by going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Heading over to the Northeastern Conference on Wednesday, Gloucester (13-2) handed Peabody (13-1) its first loss of the season, 7-0. The Fishermen relied on small ball to manufacture most of their runs, while Sydney McKay allowed just three hits.
The final team to taste defeat for the first time was Marshfield (13-1). Bridgewater-Raynham avenged an early-season loss by defeating the Rams, 6-3, in 10 innings. The result was just what the doctor ordered for the Trojans (10-3), who lost to Marshfield earlier in the season and dropped a pair of tight contests last week.
With the score tied at 1 after nine innings, the teams went to the international tiebreaker in the 10th, starting the inning with a runner on second.
Lexi Silva put the Trojans ahead when she doubled in Julia Newcomb. Cece Barron reached on an infield hit to put runners at the corners, and Kylee Piche reached on a bunt to plate Silva.
Hannah Rideout’s grounder brought in a run, before Emily Newcomb (RBI triple) and Jill Johnson (RBI double) closed out the Bridgewater-Raynham scoring. Julia Ferry allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the 10th, but managed to hold the fort to complete a four-hitter with 19 strikeouts.
Father knows best
It was your classic father vs. son coaching duel last Monday when O’Bryant squared off against South Boston.
Chalk this battle up to dear old dad.
O’Bryant broke open a close game by scoring three runs in the sixth to take home a 5-1 victory and improve to 10-3. While Tigers coach Ted Curley was pleased with the win, he wasn’t thrilled it came at the expense of his son, Justin.
“It’s very tough, no doubt about it,” Ted Curley said. “It’s a little like when we go up against Milton where my other son (Derek) is an assistant. But I was very impressed with Justin and the way he coached during the game. Having coached here with me, he really knew our players and took advantage of it.”
Justin Curley didn’t expect to be the head coach in 2018, but when South Boston had a coaching opening at the beginning of the season, he grabbed it. The Knights, at 6-3, have been one of the surprises of the Boston City League.
“The big thing my father told me when I took the job was to have patience,” Justin Curley said. “You are not going to win games overnight.”
While Justin Curley didn’t win this encounter, his team certainly gave the favored Tigers all they could handle.