Sunday, July 24, 2011
Post 201 Hits Speed Bump in State Tournament
Hudson, MA --- Lowell's Kyle Edwards held East Side to one run in the first seven innings as Post 87 defeated the Raiders 11-6 in the
Massachusetts American Legion State Tournament on Sunday. Post 201 (23-8) faces Gloucester tomorrow at 1:05 in an elimination
game. Lowell (20-5) will take on the winner of the Leominster vs. Hudson matchup at approximately 7:30 tomorrow night.
Post 87 scored four runs right out of the gate. Rory O'Connor singled through the right side to drive in the first run of the afternoon.
Chad Gens smacked a triple to right center field for two RBI and later crossed home plate on a wild pitch to close out the first inning's
offense.
East Side put up its first run in the second as Bryan Perez drew a bases loaded walk.
Lowell found a pair of runs in the fifth. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Gens singled to left field and a throwing error helped
the two runs come home. Post 87 tacked on another tally in the seventh as a sacrifice fly off of Patrick Florence's bat was caught in foul
territory enabling the runners to advance.
The Raiders bats heated up in the eighth inning. Brandon O'Connor doubled down the left field line for the initial run of the frame. Two
more runs came in as Mike Mastrototaro reached on a fielding miscue. Regan Aghdam singled up the middle to drive in East Side's fifth
and sixth marker of the day.
Post 87 responded with a four-run ninth inning. Sean McCarthy launched a home run to left field to start things off. Andrew Donahue
and Padriac Donovan each singled and with the help of a pair of miscues a total of three more runners touched home plate.
Edwards earned the victory on the hill for Lowell as he surrendered only one run on six hits and struck out seven batters. Nick Godwin
and RJ Noel shared the final two innings combining to fan four batters. Noel threw a scoreless 1 1/3 for the save.
Kyle Brenner, Ysander Figueroa and Steve Flynn struck out a total of eight as Figueroa did not allow a hit in the seventh or eighth
inning.
East Side's Flynn and Lowell's Gens led their respective team with a 3-for-5 outing. Post 201's Perez and Brenner each recorded two hits
as did Post 87's Donovan, O'Connor and Donahue. Aghdam drove in a pair of Raiders while Gens amassed three RBI and Donavan notched
two for the victors. Post 87's O'Connor and Jimmy Ricoy combined for five runs scored.
Box Score