With Christmas just in the rear view mirror and the new year fast approaching, here is a look at three stories the River Rival region will want to follow closely in 2010.
No. 1 — Will Newburyport coach Bill Pettingell finally get the elusive state championship?
Although Pettingell will always say the only thing that matters to him and his team from year and year out is winning the Cape Ann League title, the only thing missing off the Hall of Fame coach's legendary resume that included 574 career wins is a state championship.
This will be Pettingell's 39th season, and the coach recently retired from his golf coaching gig at Newburyport perhaps to focus his energy solely on baseball until he's ready to hang up the spikes for good.
Talking to Pettingell in recent years, this year's group of players is not only one of his favorite bunch of Clippers, but also one of its deepest in terms of talent. Senior captain Kyle LeBlanc — a state champion 55m sprinter and terrific wide out for the football — heads what should be a great offense. LeBlanc is on the verge or has already eclipsed most of the Clipper offensive records, and should he stay healthy may go down as the greatest offensive player in Pettingell's tenure.
Newburyport also should return the services of senior Kyle McElroy as a pitcher. A year ago, McElroy had a tough time throwing a baseball let alone pitching due to bone spurs in his elbow. Now along with Ryan O'Connor, the two-some should form a formidable one-two punch in the pitching rotation.
After getting to the Division 3 North final before losing to a scrappy Georgetown team, Newburyport should be a strong favorite to potentially send out Pettingell in grand fashion.
No. 2 — Will the father/daughter combination of John and Erin McNamara win a state championship in their last go-around?
It would be unfair to say this is the best Pentucket Sachems team John McNamara has had on paper, certainly it is the deepest, but to lose two players the caliber of Kirsten Daamen and Andi Attenasio and then make that claim would be a tough sell for even legendary pitchman Billy Mays.
Yet, there just seems to be something about this 2009-10 Sachem team with point guard Erin McNamara and best friend Ashley Viselli teaming together to form one of the most lethal back-courts in the state.
Coach McNamara will say that St. Mary's — a team his Sachems struggled to beat in the North semifinals last year 38-27 — will be the favorite in the Division 3 this year because of their Division 1 college caliber center. Of course interested parties will be able to get a sneak peak of perhaps a later date in the state tournament on January 23 at Emmanuel College when the two teams face off.
With the most ferocious and attacking defense and a team that can play all 13 of its rostered players at any time, the Sachems will have a great shot to finally get over the hurdle and put a banner up in the gymnasium.
No. 3 — How close will Georgetown girl's soccer player Nicoline Holland get to 100 career goals?
Quietly, Holland has amassed one of the best varsity careers in a long line of amazing players in the Cape Ann League. With three years of varsity experience under her belt after joining the Royals varsity team as an eighth grader, Holland has already notched 60 goals under her belt.
Considering Holland has averaged 20 goals per season, will only be a junior this coming fall when her team takes the field again, and will play on one of the most loaded Division 3 rosters in the state, it would be safe to assume she should should eclipse the mark some time in her senior season — a figure even Newburyport's all-time leading goal scorer Jill Kinter could not accomplish in her two-time state championship career amassing 89 goals.
Although Holland will certainly be a marked woman and the Royals lose both of their play-making center midfielders to graduation, the sum of the remainder of the parts left over from the 2009 season will certainly provide plenty of cover. The Royals will again contend for a state title and with the chance to play perhaps as many as 24 or 25 games, 25 goals would not be an unreasonable hull for Holland come next fall leaving her just 15 short of the century mark.
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