North triumphant in Agganis All-Star Baseball Classic
LYNN — The 15th Annual Agganis All-Star Baseball Classic yesterday afternoon at Lynn's Fraser Field featured the diamond skills of the best seniors from the North and South regions.
Thanks to a five-run fifth inning, the North team, comprised of three local athletes — Newburyport's Joe Clancy and Tyler Stotz, and Pentucket's Jordan Silva, strutted away with a 7-1 victory and their sixth straight Agganis win.
Clancy (1 for 2) got the game's first hit off Boston College-bound, Swampscott native Hunter Gordon, and pitched a pair of scoreless innings with four strike-outs.
"Joe was huge for us in those two innings," said Newburyport and North head coach Bill Pettingell. "From how it was set up, we were short on pitchers, so those two innings were big. What a week that kid had."
Clancy's teammate Stotz (double, run, walk, stolen base) was the catalyst for the North's big fifth inning, as he hit a double to the wall with the game tied 1-1. Bishop Fenwick's Dale Crispin eventually knocked Stotz and another North player in with a two-RBI double.
"That hit was huge," said Pettingell, who last coached an Agganis game in 1998. "It really started things off for us."
Though hitless during his lone at-bat, Pettingell spoke highly of Pentucket's Silva.
"Jordan played very well in the field," said Pettingell. "He played at short and second and did a great job at each."
Pettingell said that his three kids were honored to play in the game, and that the game itself serves as a great homage to the hard work these high school players put in during their careers.
"It's a well-run and well-attended showcase for the kids," said Pettingell. "It's a pretty high level of baseball, so it's fun for everyone to watch, and it's just a nice reward for all of these four-year players."