Andover’s away game against Worcester was played over the span of two seperate days as tt became too dark on Friday to continue the game into extra innings. This caused Andover to return the following Tuesday to finish the game. [a][b]Tied 3-3 in the fourteenth inning, Jonathan Santucci ’21 shot a ball to left center field and for a go-ahead two-run triple, lifting Andover to a 5-3 win
Andover struggled to drive runners on base home, elongating the game and contributing to the low score, according to Lucas Stowe ’20.
“The game was a very frustrating one because we were obviously the better team. We continued to hit and we were hitting well the whole game, we just weren’t putting anything together. Santucci himself hit two doubles and two triples. But we just weren’t hitting in the runners we had,” said Stowe.
In the second half of the game, Andover saw not only a strong performance from Santucci at the plate, but from Jackson Emus ’19 on the mound and Co-Captain Andrew Ciufo ’19 in the infield, according to Peter Ling ’20.
“Jackson threw innings eight to fourteen, and shut out those innings, keeping us in the game the whole time. [Santucci] hit a two run triple in the top of the fourteenth that completely blew the game open for us. Ciufo made a diving play on a ground ball up the middle and just showed how good he his. It really showed the depth of our and how determined we are and how we won’t ever let a game like that get by us,” said Ling.
Throughout all fourteen innings, Andover maintained a high level of energy, according to Stowe and Santucci.
“I was especially proud of us that game for how we didn’t lose focus and that we didn’t get discouraged. We just continued to press the gas until we got the result we wanted,” said Stowe.
Santucci added, “The energy never went down in the entire fourteen innings. We never lost our energy which is a big reason we were able to stay in the game the entire time and eventually win.”
The following and Saturday and Wednesday, Andover faced Pingree and Northfield Mount Hermon and earned 11-1 and 7-2 victories respectively. Both games allowed Andover to showcase the depth of its lineup, according to Ling.
Andover will face Groton at home on Friday.
Editor’s Note: Peter Ling is a Business Manager for The Phillipian.
