June A Big Month For North Reading Little League

A release from our friends at the North Reading Little League:

We’re about to hit the stretch run of North Reading Little League’s spring season, with June providing a full month of games, events, and tryouts.

This Saturday (June 2) marks “Varsity Day” with members of the North Reading High School baseball team instructing NRLL players of all ages during a two-hour session at Carey Park, starting at 10 a.m. There will also be contests and a pep talk from Hornets coach Eric Archambault as well as complimentary hot dogs, popcorn, and drinks for players and their families. On Sunday, the NRHS varsity players will be at Benevento Park for a clinic with the North Reading Little League Challenger Division.

The Junior Division playoffs — for players ages 13-14 — take place June 4-9 with games at Carey Park. The NRLL champion will advance to the Middlesex Big Diamond League All-Town Playoffs, which North Reading won last year.

Two tryouts are scheduled for next weekend. On Saturday, June 9, the 2019 Major League tryouts are set for 9 a.m. at Benevento Park. All players who will be baseball ages 10-12 next year and are not currently on a Majors team must attend in order to be eligible for Majors in 2019. On Sunday, June 10, NRLL is holding tryouts for its 10-year-old Williamsport Team that will compete in the District 13 tournament. That tryout starts at 10 a.m. at Benevento Park.

The sixth annual NRLL/Tim Chaloux 12-Year-Old Appreciation Game will be held Sunday, June 17, at 12 noon at Benevento. The game, open to all of the league’s 12s, is NRLL’s way of saying “thank you” to those players who are completing their small diamond careers. The game also keeps alive the memory of Tim Chaloux, a former North Reading Little League standout who was a senior at the Pingree School in 2013 when he tragically lost his life.

NRLL Field Day is scheduled for Friday, June 22, at 5 p.m. at Benevento, and is open to players in the Tee-Ball, Instructional, and Farm divisions. Fielding, running, and hitting competitions are followed by the Farm League Championship Game at 7 p.m.

Championship Saturday takes place on June 23 with the finals in the Majors and Minors, played concurrently starting at noon at Benevento Park.

“There’s no question that June is the biggest and busiest month on our calendar,” said NRLL President Eddie Madden. “There’s real excitement at the fields, and with the playoff games and all the other activities taking place, there’s something special for players at every level. It’s a month of memories for these youngsters.”

And believe it or not, summer baseball is just around the corner. Jimmy Fund League signups, for players ages 8-12, are now underway. Jimmy Fund features a 10-game schedule that runs early July through early August with North Reading teams facing other local towns. Most games are on weeknights. Players can register at www.nrll.org.

Here’s a look at some recent NRLL contests:

MAJORS – The White Sox jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 7-3 victory over the Royals on Memorial Day.

Andrew DeStefano’s first-inning double drove in Gavin Brady with the White Sox’s first run, and he later came around to score on a wild pitch. In the fourth inning, Steve Carriero smacked his fifth home run of the spring, a three-run, 211-foot blast over the center field fence. Tanner DuPriest also drove in a run.

Evan Panzini earned the victory on the mound, blanking the Royals and striking out six over two innings of work. DuPriest and Cameron Parrett closed out the game in relief.

Highlights for the Royals included Will Battan going 2-for-3 and Finn Rodger going 1-for-3. Both players drove in runs.

MINORS — The Classified Realty Thunder scored a one-run come-from-behind win, 3-2 over the Red Wings during “Wood Bat Week.”

Pitching was the theme for both teams. James Nelson started for the Thunder, going 2.1 innings and striking out seven. Nelson also added a hit and a run scored on the night. Colin Brady followed up with 2.2 solid innings, whiffing six, and singled in what proved to be the winning run in the fourth, scoring Kelvin Ma.

Tyler Boviard closed things out in the sixth, earning the save by striking out all three batters he faced. Boviard was hot at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

For the Red Wings, Nate Dyer pitched 4.1 innings, striking out 10, and helping out his mates at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a double, RBI, and a run scored. Branden Levine threw 1.2 innings, striking out five to keep the Red Wings close.

Ben Shore (4-for-4) and Matthew Mancinelli (3-for-3, 4 RBI) sparked the River Bandits past the Scrappers, 10-4, in another "Wood Bat Week" game. Jakob Hulett and Max Mathews each drove in two runs for the victors.

Mathews earned the victory on the mound, fanning seven over three frames, and Mancinelli, Scott Costello, and Hulett finished things off. For Costello, it was his pitching debut, and he shined with a pair of strikeouts.

It was just a one-run game when Mancinelli came in with the bases loaded in the fourth to strike out the side, and the River Bandits then broke it open in the bottom of the inning by scoring five times. Costello started the rally with a sharp single up the middle.

For the Scrappers, Kian Grabar had two RBI and scored twice, while on the mound, Wyatt Ares struck out five batters over three innings of work. Catcher James Wade turned in the game’s defensive gem with an amazing diving catch on a foul pop up with runners on base to end a River Bandits threat.

FARM — The long-awaited first meeting between the A’s and the Indians took place last Saturday. The weather wasn’t the only thing heating up as the two teams battled to the very end.

The A’s saw a power surge early on with extra base hits from half their lineup, including two triples from Andrew Beckwith and a perfect 6-for-6 day with six runs scored from Dante Montana. In the field, the continued versatility of Cameron Beck, Jackson Kosinski, and James Cheney in various positions on the diamond helped produce multiple 1-2-3 innings.

Late in the game, solid defensive work from the Indians’ Zachary Ehrenthal and Zachary Fleming kept the game close, along with contributions at the plate from Fleming and Connor Downey.