Zach Burdeau ’09 knocked in seven runs last Friday as Andover cruised to a remarkable 21-1 victory over Nobles in the highest scoring game of the season. Andover also split a double header at Deerfield on Saturday to clinch a spot in the playoffs this weekend as the team tries to defend its league championship from the last two years. Hosting Nobles on Friday, Andover jumped on the weak opponent early and often, earning an 11-0 lead after just four innings of play. Chris Cameron ’10 had a strong showing at the plate as the lead off man, reaching base in five of his six trips to the plate. His two hits and three walks helped set the table for the the middle of Andover’s lineup. The strong offensive efforts by Andover were accompanied by equally impressive defensive play. Tom Hamel ’10 dominated Nobles’ batters from the mound, keeping them on their heels the entire game. “Hamel hit his spot on almost every pitch, which includes his curveball, which he threw for strikes all game. They just had no chance against him,” said Cameron. Coming off of its rout of Nobles, the team traveled to Deerfield Academy for a double header against its league rival. In the first game, Andover could not seem to put anything together, both offensively and defensively. While Deerfield maintained a 4-0 lead for the majority of the game, they added three more in the last inning to defeat Andover in the opening game, 7-0. Andover had some trouble in the field, as several defensive miscues allowed Deerfield to increase its lead. Co-Captain Anthony Morlani ’09 did, however, have several impress catches in center field for Andover, helping to minimize Deerfield’s damage. However, the double header allowed the team the immediate opportunity to avenge this loss. “After a lackluster performance in game one, we were determined to split the double header and win the second game,” said Morlani. Andover came out strong in game two of the twin bill, scoring five runs in the first inning. Sam Clark ’09 and Burdeau, batting third and fourth. Respectively, both went 4-4 at the plate and combined for a total of six RBI’s. Jack Doyle ’10 was dominant on the mound for Andover, pitching six innings of shutout baseball to earn the win. Tom Palleschi ’12 came in to close out the seventh, earning the save. The pitching performances of Palleschi and Doyle led to a 12-0 shutout victory of Deerfield. The win in Saturday’s second game clinched a spot in the league playoffs this upcoming weekend. Coming off of the split versus Deerfield, Andover hosted Tabor Academy at home on Wednesday. Andover had beaten the league opponent convincingly earlier in the season, 11-0, and beat them 5-4 in the second meeting of the two squads. In preparation for the upcoming tournament, Andover took the opportunity to utilize many of its pitchers, with Hamel, Palleschi and Clark each seeing two innings of action, and Sam Auffant ’09 closing out the seventh. Burdeau continued his hot hitting, contributing a single, double, and triple at the plate. Andover made use of some small ball to supplement their big bats as well. With Co-Captain Geoff Lynch ‘09 at the plate and Morlani on third, Lynch executed a perfect bunt as Morlani broke from third to come home on the safety squeeze, plating a run for Andover in the later stages of the game. Leading 5-1 going into the seventh, some hits and defensive miscues allowed Tabor to plate three runs. With the win over Tabor, Andover closes out the regular season at 12-5 going into the NEPSAC Tournament this weekend hosted at College of the Holy Cross. Andover will be joined by Deerfield, Worcester and Exeter in the tournament. “We will have faced each opponent twice going into the weekend and all teams are relatively even-matched,” said Morlani. He continued, “Ideally, playing solid, error-free defense and being patient on offense will put our team in the best position to succeed.”
