Norwood 3, Newton North 2: Back on Top
Thursday, 23 May 2013 19:33

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Pictured in photo Senior Anthony DelMonaco


By Tom Fargo/Staff Writer
Wicked Local Norwood
NEWTON —

Anthony Delmonaco made the most of his two at-bats on Wednesday.

After getting his job done as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning with a run-scoring groundout, the Norwood High senior delivered a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the ninth that lifted the Mustangs to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Newton North and clinched a share of the program’s first Bay State Conference Herget Division title since 2004.

"We have a great group of kids, we have 19 seniors, so it’s awesome," said Delmonaco. "We are all great buddies. To do it like this, go out with a bang, its awesome."

Later that night, Norwood was left as outright champs after Braintree outlasted Walpole, 11-10, to tie the Tigers for the Carey crown. The Mustangs had pulled even with their rival with a 2-1 triumph over the Rebels on Monday night.

Norwood (15-4) closed the league season with wins in its final nine BSC contests for a 14-2 mark.

"We’ve got a great coaching staff, the O’Leary boys, (Steve) Eckhardt and (Paul) Erker…but these guys brought it back, we just pointed them in the right direction," said Norwood coach Kevin Igoe of his team. "We got off course and now we are pointed back in the right direction and they should be proud. That senior class should be really proud."

Joe Rydzewski earned the win for the Mustangs with a complete-game performance, outdueling counterpart Brendan Ryan, who also went the distance. After walking the tightrope for the first three innings, Rydzewski settled into a groove, holding the Tigers hitless the final frames.

It was the second straight game Norwood handed an unbeaten ace his first defeat after pinning a loss on Walpole’s Mike Gaughan.

Trailing 2-1, Anthony Perriello singled to begin the top of the ninth, but Kenny Michael and Mark Saulnier both flew out to left, leaving John Galvin as Norwood’s last hope. With Perriello on the move, Galvin drilled a ball through the vacated hole on the right side for his third hit of the game, putting runners at the corners.

"It wasn’t a hit and run – it was a definite run," said a smiling Igoe of the play. "We lucked out, hit it to the right spot. We didn’t go hit and run, we were definitely running. We just needed to make something happen. That kid was excellent on the mound, he kept us guessing."

That brought Delmonaco to the plate, and he quickly found himself with a pair in scoring position after a steal of second by Galvin that did not draw a throw. The left-handed swinger brought them both in with a sharp line drive over shortstop into center for the 3-2 edge.

"It felt great, a great feeling," said Delmonaco, who knocked in all three Norwood runs.

Rydzewski worked a routine 1-2-3 ninth to nail down the victory, sandwiching a pair of grounders to Michael at short around his eighth strikeout of the day. After collecting six hits and two walks in the first three innings, the Tigers only two baserunners the rest of the day came on hit batters, one to lead off of the fourth and one with one out in the eighth. Rydzewski retired 21 of the last 23 batters he faced.

"It’s always tough playing on the road, a long bus ride through traffic, everyone is sitting and you have 20 minutes to get loose, so we tried to get him as ready as we could," said Igoe of Rydzewski. "He’s a horse, he could have gone three more innings."

Both runs Rydzewski surrendered were unearned and came in the first. North loaded the bases on a walk to John Little and consecutive two-out singles by Alex Joyce and Mike Courtney. Ryan then hit a ball to third that Rourke Flynn couldn’t handle for the first run of the game, and Kevin Alexy followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

North had threats in the second, putting a pair on, and particularly the third, when singles by Courtney and Ryan put runners at the corners with no outs. But Rydzewski got back-to-back strikeouts and a liner to right field to escape still behind just 2-0.

Norwood got the leadoff man on in five of the first six innings but could not convert, hitting into two double plays and having a runner thrown out stealing. Galvin began the fifth with a triple to right, but was stranded there.

The Mustangs finally got on the board in the seventh on a single by Saulnier, a double by Galvin and a groundout by Delmonaco, setting his memorable trip from the bench to hero into motion.

"It was better than pretty good, it was an outstanding high school baseball game," said Newton North coach Joe Siciliano. "Both pitchers battled, everybody made plays. That’s great Bay State League baseball, nine innings, anybody’s game."

Michael drove in both runs with a double in the first and a solo home run in the fourth and pitched a complete game on the mound to power the 2-1 win over Walpole on Monday.

Walpole got its run in the eighth on a wild pitch that put the tying run on third base with one out, but Michael got out of the jam with the lead in that frame, and left a runner on second in the ninth as well.

Norwood will try to improve its postseason seed and avenge it only loss of more than one run this year Saturday night when it hosts Xaverian. Division 1 South tournament pairings will be released on Tuesday.

"Two great games Monday and Wednesday and now a tough one on Saturday against Xaverian so we will be battle tested come


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Girls Lacrosse Clinches Tourney Spot
Thursday, 23 May 2013 19:26

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Pictured in photo:  Senior Captain Allison Ryan


By the Sports Staff
Wicked Local Norwood

The Mustangs closed out the regular season Wednesday with a 16-11 victory over Dedham behind six goals and two assists from Allison Ryan.

Kacie Smith scored four goals and Maura O’Neill added a hat trick as Norwood finished at 9-7-2 overall and 5-4-2 in the Bay State Conference.

Sheila Carroll made nine saves and Arianna Woodley played well defensively.

Norwood dropped a 16-15 nonleague game to Canton on Monday despite a 10-point game from Ryan (8 goals, 2 assists).

Smith added two goals and three assists while Brittany Sullivan scored twice. Carroll made 11 saves in the loss.

Last Thursday, Norwood defeated Newton North 17-13 to secure their spot in the tournament.

Smith had five goals and two assists and Ryan scored four times. Sullivan had three goals while O’Neill, Quinlan, Fernandes, Hayes and Ashley Conley each added one.

The Division 1 South tournament pairing will be announced on Thursday.
 
 
Norwood 2, Walpole 1: Tied at the Top
Thursday, 23 May 2013 19:06

 

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Wicked Local Photo / Sean Browne

Norwood's Kenny Michael leaps on to home plate after hitting a solo home run to left field during Monday evening's game versus Walpole.







By Keith Pearson/Staff Writer
Wicked Local Norwood
NORWOOD —

The two games between the Norwood and Walpole High baseball teams could not have been any more different, but the one thing they showed was that not much separates these rivals.

Behind a complete-game outing on the mound and two RBI from Kenny Michael, the Mustangs tied things up in the Bay State Conference Herget Division race Monday night with a 2-1 victory at Peter Wall Field in a piece of great theater.

After splitting two one-run games, the two teams are tied at 13-2 in the Herget Division with both teams facing road games Wednesday. Norwood heads to Newton North, which has a one game lead over Braintree, which hosts the Rebels. Walpole had reeled off 15 straight wins since losing to Newton North while Norwood’s only other BSC loss was to Braintree.

Michael and Walpole starter Mike Gaughan each went the distance and had similar lines,  registering 12 strikeouts each and high walk totals, with seven for Michael and six for Gaughan – a sign more of a tight strike zone than wildness. The two aces only allowed seven hits on the day with Michael allowing four and Gaughan three.

“How about that? Few hundred people, two really good pitchers,” said Norwood coach Kevin Igoe, whose team is 14-4 overall

“Kenny Michael was a bulldog out there, he walked a lot of batters but he was tough with men on base,” said Rebels coach Bill Tompkins. “He also did it at the plate with a double in the first inning and hit a home run in the fourth. He was definitely on top of his game tonight.”

Two of those hits the Rollins College-bound Gaughan allowed were to Michael, who will play at Southern New Hampshire next year, and both resulted in runs for Norwood.

In the first, Michael laced a double into left that scored Tyler Gover, who led off the game with an opposite field hit to right, and put runners at second and third. Gaughan limited the damage to just a single run by striking out Mark Saulnier and John Galvin.

Michael opened the fourth by drilling the first pitch he saw over the fence in left-center for a solo home run and a 2-0 lead.

“On that double, he threw a curveball and he hung one for me and I took advantage of it and took that one down the line,” Michael said. “Then the home run, after those curves (in the first at bat) I was expecting a first-pitch fastball and looking to hop on it and got it and I took advantage of that and that felt great.”

Gaughan (8-1) did not allow a hit after that, getting himself out of an eighth inning jam striking out Saulnier and Gavin to leave two in scoring position.

“I thought he pitched real well, I thought he had good hard stuff, and we play in Walpole and that ball is caught in the fourth inning,” said Tompkins. “But they have fences here and they’re home runs, that’s why you have home field advantage. Tremendous high school ballgame.”

That proved enough for Michael who sailed through the first five innings not allowing a hit. In the sixth, he had a bit of good fortune on his side as Walpole (16-2) loaded the bases with one out on a walk and consecutive two-out singles by Johnny Adams and Cam Hanley, but he escaped unharmed as a little bloop from Matt Bender went over the pitcher’s mound and fell just in front of second base.

Unsure of whether the ball would be caught or if the ball was even high enough for an infield fly rule to be called, the runners were stuck in no man’s land, with Galvin firing to third for a forceout and Rourke Flynn throwing to second, where Cam Hanley was tagged before reaching the base to complete the inning-ending double play.

“One of those freak plays, it happens in Norwood-Walpole,” said Walpole coach Bill Tompkins, who added that he felt Adams could have been called for interference returning to second base as Galvin ran in to try to make the play.

“I don’t really know how to describe that double play,” Michael said. “That was kind of a weird play, but it got me two outs. I’ll take it.”

Walpole finally broke through in the eighth as Bobby Ivatts opened with a walk and Adams laced a single to right-center, with Gover getting over quickly to cut the ball off and prevent Adams from taking an extra base or allowing Ivatts to score. After Michael fanned Hanley, Adams stole second and a wild pitch scored Ivatts and put Adams, representing the tying run, 90 feet away.

With the tying run at third, the infield came in and Bender hit a line drive, but right at second baseman Jordan Davis for the second out. Michael escaped as Rick Ordway grounded back through the middle and Galvin made a play to his left after Michael grazed it on the way by.

 
 
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