LOWELL — If this run to greatness accomplished anything, it announced to North Andoverites that there is life after the Cape Ann League.

The Scarlet Knights, champions of Division 2 North, for the first-time ever, saw the drive end two wins shy of a state championship, 8-0, at the hands of reigning state champion Plymouth North.

Ryan Sifferlen, Aaron Brunette, Mike Levy and five other seniors have now officially moved on.

Their accomplishments over this spring and their four years might someday be looked at as a turning point in North Andover diamond history.

"Right now, we're the best team North Andover High has ever had," said Sifferlen, who went 0 for 3 last night but finished an amazing senior year at .463 with 30 runs scored. "I knew we had pieces, but you never know for sure. If I had to pick a group of guys to go this far with, it would be these guys."

Todd Dulin felt something simmering back in 2006. At that point, he was merely the freshman coach.

"A couple years down the line, we'll be able to look back on this year," said Dulin, now in his third year as head coach. "I love this group of kids. These guys, for four years, you just couldn't ask for a better group of kids."

But it's been more than victories or even the title.

North Andover is a town where lacrosse has grown like the crabgrass on my front lawn. Remember, the one bigtime boys athlete to come out of the school in recent years is a lacrosse player, UMass Amherst's Jimmy Connolly. Like it or not, baseball had been waning.

Over the past two weeks, baseball took center stage. It matters again.

Even if the high school student body, conspicuous by its absence right to the final pitch, didn't pay attention, the athletes who matter most to the future did.

Plymouth North showed up with busloads of students. North Andover countered with about 20 junior high boys, all presumably budding athletes soaking in the ride to glory.

"I think baseball (at North Andover) is moving in the right direction," said Dulin. "There's a lot of excitement."

Dulin doesn't have to look too far for the blueprint if the plan, as he says, is to build a perennial power.

In the late '90s, Masconomet, under coach Pete Delani and buoyed by ace Ben Crockett, proved the Cape Ann League could be a power.

Now, Dulin figures it might be North Andover's turn.

This year's tri-captains had qualities he'll need in future captains.

In Sifferlen, a UMass bound senior, he had the natural, a three-sport impact player. His ice exploits (2008 Eagle-Tribune MVP) kept Sifferlen the center-fielder a well-kept secret, but there's no doubt Minutemen coach Jim Stone has a steal.

Brunette was an unflappable top-of-the-rotation stopper, as mentally tough an athlete as you'll find at the high school level.

Sheer work and determination made Levy. An anonymous cog in the program for three years, Levy bided his time behind Eagle-Tribune All-Star Taylor Livingston.

With just 12 varsity at-bats as a junior, the catcher was a question mark when practice began in mid-March. His 1 for 3 yesterday ended his breakout year at .333 (24 for 72), a question no more.

Now the hard work begins.

"Coach Dulin has turned this whole program around," said Sifferlen. "We won (four) games on the varsity my freshman year. And we're here now. He can do whatever he wants with this program."

Nobody will overlook the Knights now. But can North Andover sustain it?

"That's been the goal from day 1," said Dulin. "Just figuring out what you have to do to do that, I think we're learning here as we go. This will give us some momentum in the right direction. It was very hard to get to this spot. I think we have the guys (underclassmen) to do it again."

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