With no outs and bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, Travis Lane ’18 hit a hard line drive to left field to drive in two runs and up Andover Baseball’s lead over Deerfield to 8-0 in the first game of its doubleheader on Saturday. Andover went on to win the game 12-1 after steady offensive production from its entire lineup. In the second game of the doubleheader, however, Andover couldn’t replicate its offense and fell 3-2.
Andover capitalized on four Deerfield errors with nine hits of its own. Travis Lane and Co-Captains John Festa ’15 and Matt Hosman ’15 all tallied two R.B.I., while John Simourian ’16, Joe Simourian ’18, Robby Cerulle ’17 and Payton Jancsy ’16 all batted in one run apiece as well.
Andover’s defense was not perfect, however, as it committed two errors, behind veteran pitcher Thomas Lane ’15. Thomas Lane pitched his third complete game of the season, striking out seven batters and allowing his first earned run of the season. He currently holds a 0.22 ERA.
In the second game, the team had the tying run on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, down one run in both situations, but was unable to capitalize.
Head Coach Kevin Graber said, “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convert, although we’d worked on that exact situation during the week in practice.”
Andover’s two runs came from hits by David Gaetano ’15 and Cerulle.
On Wednesday, the team beat Tabor 16-5 in its last game of the regular season.
In Andover’s second meeting this season, the team regained its winning ways and recorded a whopping 15 hits in the game. John Simourian led the team offensively with five R.B.I.
Sam Zager ’15, Ben Reinisch ’15 and Hosman all contributed two R.B.I., while Cerulle, Taylor Beckett ’17 and Joe Simourian each batted in a run as well.
Zager said, “We were relaxed, didn’t try to do too much at the plate and let the ball come to us. Defensively, we had a few mishaps, myself included, but we can iron those out pretty easily, and we know we’ve got a great group of fielders behind any pitcher we throw.”
With the regular season now over, Andover is preparing for the Central New England Prep Baseball League Championships this weekend. The team is ranked as the second seed of the four teams and will compete against third seed and defending champion, Tabor, in the semifinals on Saturday. The winner will play either first seed Worcester or fourth seed Cushing in the finals.
Zager added, “We knew we’d see [Tabor] again on Saturday for playoffs, and it was a good chance to feel out some of their pitchers, put some good swings on balls and prepare for the real test.”
After winning the Championship back-to-back in 2012 and 2013, but falling short last year, Andover has serious motivation to reclaim the title. The team’s first game starts at 10 a.m. at the New England Baseball Complex on Saturday.
