The race is on: Andover slams Central, slides back into first-place tie

NORTH ANDOVER — In a way, the fact that nothing was settled on a league-wide basis here yesterday makes perfect sense.

You'd hate to see the Merrimack Valley Conference large school crown decided in a 20-10 romp.

Four-time defending champion Andover High moved into a tie atop the division with Central Catholic, completing the season-series sweep over the Raiders.

Each team now controls its own destiny. Win out in the MVC (Andover has four to play, Central five) and call yourself a champion.

Victory, however, came served on a platter as the 8-2 Raiders committed six errors, lost at least three other catchable fly balls in the sun and saw five different pitchers hand out a whopping nine free passes.

"This was big, because, now if take care of business, play like we think we can and win our games, then we'll be champions," said Eric Chu, who enjoyed a landmark afternoon, doubling his career hit total in a 3-for-4 day and driving in a game-high six runs. "Winning this one is a big turnaround in a tough week. And it definitely gets us closer to where we want to be."

Chu, from the No. 7 spot, was one of a handful of mashers up and down the lineup.

John Hennessy saw his incredible average slide from .553 to .545 in a 3-for-6 day, driving in four runs. Zach Burdeau was 3 for 5, driving in five runs, and No. 8 hitter Mike Morander drove in four more with his four hits.

"You know our 1-to-5 guys are going to do their job, but it's nice to see the bottom of the order producing as much as we did," added Chu. "To have everyone going well now is a very good sign."

John Farrell evened his mark at 2-2 — both wins coming over Central — with 41/3 economical innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits without a walk. The 6-foot-3 righty struck out six.

As always with the spring season, Andover, now 8-3 overall, has little time to rest on the accomplishments, as the Golden Warriors host Lowell Friday.

The Raiders, on the other hand, have to figure out how they could allow a knockout opportunity like this one to slip away with such little fight. Central trailed 9-1 after two innings and 20-2 through four.

All nine runs against starter Matt Novak were unearned. Relievers Roberto Valenti, Tim Wheeler and Patrick Noone were treated in relatively the same fashion.

Robbie Taylor paced the 14-hit Central attack with three hits, while Ryan Kemp (3 RBIs), Valenti and Chris Sartori added two hits apiece. Garrett Reed slammed a massive three-run homer to left that cleared the barrier by at least 40 feet down the line.

On a positive note, Raider coach Marc Pelletier has righthander Brendan Walsh ready, willing and able to go to the mound for today's home matchup with Methuen.

Andover (20): P.J. Farnham cf 4-3-0, John Hennessy ss 6-3-3, Mike Taylor 2b 4-3-2, Sam Clark 1b/p 5-3-2, Zach Burdeau 3b 4-4-3, Steve LaFortune dh 2-2-0, Kevin Hitchko ph 1-0-0, Eric Chu rf/1b 4-2-3, C.J. Leary ph 1-0-0, Mike Morander c 5-0-4, Shawn McDermott lf 5-1-1, John Farrell p 0-0-0, Max Nolin p 0-0-0, Alex Patti rf 0-0-0, Totals 41-20-18

Central Catholic (10): Robbie Taylor ss/p/3b 4-3-3, Roberto Valenti cf/p 3-1-2, Brendan Slein cf 2-0-0, Ryan Kemp dh 3-2-2, Michael Romano ph 1-0-0, Drew Guyer c 3-1-2, Matt Pelletier c 1-0-0, Marc Crowley ss 3-1-1, Garrett Reed lf 1-1-1, Matt Noone lf/p 4-1-1, Chris Sartori 1b 4-0-2, Zak Adamopoulos rf 3-0-1, Brendan Walsh rf 1-0-0, Ross Sarmento 2b 3-0-0, Darren Infante 2b 1-0-0, Matt Novak p 0-0-0, Tim Wheeler p/cf 0-0-0, Ben Bousa 3b 0-0-0, Totals 37-10-14

RBI: A — Hennessy 4, Burdeau 5, Chu 6, Morander 4, McDermott; CC — Kemp 3, Guyer, Reed 3, Sartori 2

As the regular season nears a close, the Merrimack Valley Conference large school race looks to be a two-team affair between Central Catholic (6-2) and Andover (7-2).

Central has home dates left with Methuen (today), Chelmsford (Monday), Lawrence (Wednesday) and Lowell (May 16). Also, the Raiders go to Tewksbury on May 26.

Andover hosts Lowell tomorrow, then closes with Haverhill at home Wednesday and Methuen on the road (May 16). Also, the Warriors have to finish or make up the earlier game with Methuen, which was halted after seven innings with the score knotted at 5-5.

Methuen, Lowell and Chelmsford all have at least four league losses and are all but mathematically eliminated from the race.

Photos

Andover third baseman Zach Burdeau rifles a throw to first. Burdeau had a monster day in the romp over Central with three hits, four runs and five RBIs. Staff photo