J.R. Santaniello ’08 allowed two runs in six strong innings. Co-Captains Tom Dignard ’06 and Matt Boylan ’06 reached base a combined eight out of nine times en route to a fighting 6-5 win over Cushing Academy in the rain and mist of Phelps Field Friday afternoon. In an important game to determine playoff seeding, PA traveled on Wednesday to Tabor Academy and won in another squeaker 7-6, behind an efficient pitching outing by Will Sherrill ’07 and two hits and two RBIs by Santaniello. On Friday, Cushing, riding a six-game winning streak, entered the game with a chip on its shoulder, having lost 8-4 earlier in the year to Phillips. Andover was the first to draw blood, when in the 1st inning the home team drove two runs across with four consecutive singles to take the lead. Santaniello kept the Penguins on their heels, getting out of jams in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th innings to preserve a 2-1 lead. “I thought I had one of my best outings of the year,” said Santaniello. “My fastball, curveball, changeup, I had good command of them, and it worked out for us.” The lefthander scattered six hits on the game while striking out eight. Andover opened up the lead again in the 5th, with a Boylan RBI triple to deep right, and again in the 6th, when singles by Tommy Arrigg ’06 and Joe Smith ’07 allowed Mike Ciummei ’08 to ground a base knock through the drawn-in Cushing infield to score another pair of runs. Taking the 5-2 lead into the 7th inning, Arrigg relieved Santaniello but got into trouble after an errant throw extended the inning for the Penguins. Cushing refused to go down without a fight, as Aaron Santos tied the game 5-5 with a three-run home run on a 1-2 count to right field. The Blue continued to focus as the teams traded scoreless half-innings, with help from Mike Palermo ‘08’s diving grab in right field, before Co-Captain Dignard reached for the fifth consecutive time of the day with a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning. After Sam Conte ’07 walked to push the Co-Captain to second base, Dignard scampered home with the winning run after a passed ball and a wild pitch. Wednesday’s clear skies at Tabor gave the Blue its first chance to play outside since Friday’s game after its Saturday doubleheader against Deerfield was rained out. “We didn’t play very well today with our gloves, but we got the win in the end,” said Sam Gould ’07. But as one of the slickest-fielding teams in the league this season, not being able to go through the motions and see real action would expectedly produce some amount of rust. “We’ve improved defensively throughout the year, and the outfielders have shone,” Coach Cline said. PA got out to a 1st inning 2-0 lead behind Co-Captain Boylan’s RBI double, while Sherrill kept Tabor to one earned run through five innings. Andover broke open the game in the 5th inning, with a four run, two-out rally spurred by a Santaniello 2 RBI single, and an Arrigg RBI double. Tabor came back to within one in the 6th inning, scoring twice, before John Gardner ’06 shut the door in the 7th with two strikeouts to record the save in the 7-6 win. On the performances, Coach Cline commented “I’m very pleased with the overall team chemistry and way the pitching staff has developed for this year and beyond; Santaniello, Sherrill, and Gardner to name a few have performed well, right alongside our two aces.” Andover meets Cushing again Saturday in the semifinals of the Central New England Prep School Baseball League tournament, at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, with the victor moving onto the championship against the winner of Exeter and Deerfield. “Cushing will be difficult, no team is easy to beat three times in a season, but we think we can play with anybody in this league,” said Coach Cline. “Our team can win it all, and now we need to go out and execute.”
