Baseball BV

Phillips Exeter Academy

Date/Time	Home/Away	Type	Field Location	Score
5/23/2009 10:00 AM		Game		6-3

Blue Tops Red 6-3 to Capture Final Showdown

In their fourth meeting of the spring season, the PA and PEA baseball teams squared off at Exeter Saturday afternoon, and Andover was able to grind out a 6-3 victory.  After losing two one-run games to the Red in an early May doubleheader at Phelps Park, the Blue edged PEA 1-0 in the league tournament a week ago.  In this final game of the season for both teams, Andover once again faced the challenge of trying to solve the slants of PEA’s dominant left-hander Chris O’Hare and found themselves trailing 2-0 after just one inning.  But with two outs in the top of the third, Chris Cameron ’11 got on base with a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error.  After Mike DiFronzo ’11 drew a walk, co-captain Anthony Morlani ’09 found a hole with his ground ball single through the infield to drive in Cameron with PA’s first run.  Meanwhile the Andover pitchers were doing their job of holding Exeter in check, and the defense—after allowing two unearned runs in the first—began to click.  Left-hander Tom Palleschi ’12 drew the start for the Blue and struck out 2 while allowing 2 hits and 2 unearned runs in the first two innings.  Tom Hamel ’10 came on to pitch shutout ball in the third and fourth, yielding just 2 hits and walking none.  
 
PA still trailed 2-1 in the top of the fifth, but Sam Auffant ’09 changed that when he drove a two-strike pitch 375 feet to left for a solo home run and a 2-2 tie.  With PA’s top pitcher Glenn Stowell ’09 coming on to pitch in the fifth, the two teams were facing what amounted to a 3-inning game.  After Stowell retired the Red in the fifth, Zach Burdeau ’09 led off the sixth by beating out a slow roller down the first base line.  After Sam Clark ’09 walked, everyone in the park knew co-captain Geoff Lynch ’09 would be trying to bunt the runners over, but despite the defense’s anticipation, Lynch laid down an excellent bunt that not only advanced the runners but forced an overthrow at first base which allowed both Burdeau and Clark to score.  It looked like Lynch might be stranded at third as O’Hare struck out the next two PA hitters, but Stowell, batting for the first time in the game, singled up the middle to drive in another run and make the score 5-2.  Exeter’s Tim Lee hit a solo homer to lead off bottom of the sixth and make it 5-3, but that’s all the home team would get as Stowell was in command, and PA added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Morlani ripped a double to left and rode home on a Burdeau single.  
 
The victory capped a very successful 14-6 season for the Big Blue varsity.  Facing a schedule of one tough opponent after another, they competed well every time out, and the team chemistry was superb.  Co-captains Morlani and Lynch along with the other seniors, Mike Siraco, Stowell, Auffant, Burdeau, and Clark, did an excellent job of leading and working with an unusually young team, and the underclassmen responded by stepping up in big ways.  All the players and coaches want to thank the parents, grandparents, and fans of PA baseball for their tremendous support throughout the season.  We also want to recognize and applaud the people without whom our program would not be possible:  the JV baseball coaches, the athletic trainers, the folks in the athletic office who handle scheduling, meals, uniforms, equipment, the locker rooms, the Cage, the web site, and a million other details, and perhaps most of all, the athletic grounds crew that does such a fabulous job on our fields.  You guys are great, and we appreciate all of you immensely.