There are many “truths” in baseball, and there are two among many when it comes to early-season Spring baseball games. Truth number one? Quite often the weather will be more suited to Football season. Truth number two? Very rarely will games be “clean.” In other words, there will be errors and base-running gaffes and pitchers who have trouble finding the strike-zone, and on and on. Most high school teams get relatively very little time outside prior to the regular season beginning, and just as little actual game action. All that said, Saturday’s home opener was a pretty darn good baseball game for Game 1 of the season, and despite all the above happening, the Raiders swung the bat, played decent baseball overall and received two quality pitching performances on the way to a 9-7 non-league win versus Fitchburg.
Looks are deceiving, and Saturday was a perfect example. It was a sunny day at 1 p.m. at Victory Field. The artificial turf shined among the sun and blue skies. There was no snow on the ground and the game could be played, on schedule — not always a guarantee in March. And, oh by the way, it was somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees outside with a gusty and biting wind. Personally, I’m still thawing out, but then again, I’m 65 and I despite my love of baseball and having been around fields on a day like this for the past 50 years of my life, I’m not the ‘tough guy’ I used to be. Fortunately, though, teenagers don’t notice cold, and baseball was played.
The Raiders graduated a good portion of their lineup, and so, as longtime Head Coach Aram Manoukian told me, “we are a very, very, young team.” Five freshman — one started on Saturday. Eleven sophomores — four started. Five juniors — three started. Only two seniors — one started. The starting lineup:
Andrew Reilly – C, Jr.
Jason Ciulla – SS, Soph.
Max Zeller – 2B, Fr.
Jayden Pineda – P, Jr.
Peter Pavlidis – 1B, Jr.
Kinston Omolade – LF, Sr.
Julian Boas – DH, Soph.
Christian Connelly – 3B, Soph.
Mason Lamacchia – CF, Soph.
Jordan Muraca – RF, Soph.
Jayden Pineda, Julian Boas and Peter Pavlidis will make up the pitching staff this year. Pineda got the start on Saturday, and the junior pitched well. That early-season “truth” I spoke of (not always clean baseball early in the season) put Pineda in a hole after three innings. A past ball, a couple of mis-plays in the field and before you know it the Raiders went to bat in the bottom of the third trailing 4-0. That said, Pineda was threw strikes, challenged hitters to put the ball in play, and mixup up his fastball and curve pretty well given it was game number one of the season.
Christian Connelly led off the bottom of the third with a single, and when he came up a second time in the inning and the third out was made, 10 Raiders had batted and Watertown had scored 7 runs. Five Raiders singled in the inning, including Connelly twice, Ciulla, Piveda and Boas. Fitchburg walked two and hit one batter. The Raiders made the most of their at-bats, and had Junior Peter Pavlidis’s rocket to center been a few feet more to right-center, it would have cleared the bases — Fitchburg’s center fielder made a nice catch.
Fitchburg answered back in the fourth with two hard-luck runs off reliever Julian Boas. He came in relief with bases loaded and was oh-so-close to getting out of the inning unscathed. Now a tight opening day 7-6 ballgame, the Raiders answered back with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff walk by Omolade, a Boas single, a Connelly walk, and just like that the bases were loaded. Up stepped the 9-hitter Lamacchia, and he delivered with a clutch single to right side past the second baseman which scored Omolade and Connelly.
Up 9-6, Boas did the rest. Boas was part of Watertown’s rotation last season as a freshman. He has great stuff for a young pitcher, and composure to go with it. His fastball has good movement, he has an excellent curveball that he’s not afraid to throw inside — he’s already very adept at painting the corner with it. Boas struck out seven in relief, including the side in the 6th. His biggest strikeout though was of the leadoff hitter, probably Fitchburg’s best, in the 5th to end a potential rally and strand two runners. With a three-run lead in the 7th, Boas gave up an inconsequential run, but a young Raiders team won a satisfying home opener with a 9-7 win on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Victory Field.Watertown is home Monday and Wednesday as part of a three-game week, and I, for one, am already saying a few prayers hoping the thermostat gets out the 30’s! All three games are against the strength of the league, so challenges await — we will let you know how it goes.
Line Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 – R H
Fitchburg 1 0 3 2 0 0 1 – 7 8
Watertown 0 0 7 0 2 0 x – 9 10
Upcoming Games
Mon Apr 6 4:15 PM vs Lexington High School at Victory Field
Wed Apr 8 7:00 PM vs Burlington High School at Victory Field
Fri Apr 10 4:15 PM @ Belmont High School