Masconomet relies on extra pop

LOWELL - Kyle Shepard made the most of a second chance last night. His team did as well.

Shepard doubled home the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning and Masconomet held on to defeat Danvers, 1-0, in the Division 2 North final.

In last year's North final, Masconomet lost to Belmont, 3-1.

"I couldn't ask for more out of these guys," said second-year coach Joseph Marchese. "We've got a great bunch of players, and this year they came to play."

Masconomet was aided by miscues by the Danvers defense in the eighth. Cam Greeley reached on an error by third baseman Chris Perry, then reached second on a wild pitch by Falcons ace Bob Dean. With one out, Shepard hit a foul pop behind home plate, but catcher Jeff Eldridge lost the ball and couldn't make the play. Shepard then slammed a double to left on an 0-2 pitch to give Masconomet the only run of the game.

"As soon as that popup fell, I knew I was going to get a hit," Shepard said. "I was looking for the fastball and got it. You have to take advantage of second chances. They're the best."

Marchese was not surprised his cleanup hitter came through.

"He had the best swings against Dean all night," he said. "It was good to see him at the plate in that situation. He's batting fourth for a reason."

Both starting pitchers were impressive throughout the contest. Dean kept the Masconomet bats off balance with a knee-bucking curveball and a fastball that was hitting 87 miles per hour on the LeLacheur Park radar gun. He got five outs in a row by strikeout from the second to fourth innings, and had seven strikeouts by the fourth.

Masconomet threatened in the fifth after Dean hit Steven Beard with a pitch and Dan Duval reached on a bunt single to open the inning. But the Danvers ace slammed the door, blowing away Chris Splinter with two outs to end the threat. He followed that up by retiring the side on five pitches in the sixth.

But James Reardon was just as impressive for the Chieftains. The southpaw yielded only two singles through the first six frames and consistently induced groundouts. The best threat for the Falcons came in the first, when two runners reached scoring position after a wild pitch, but Reardon threw a fastball by Nick Gikas to end the inning.

"He might not throw the hardest stuff, but he knows how to get outs," Marchese said. "He's a gamer."

Reardon was replaced by Evan Bunker after pinch hitter Matt Michel walked on four pitches to start the seventh inning. After a sacrifice bunt by Greg Ladd, Bunker got Tom Marini to pop out before Larry Saggese lined out to Reardon at first to end the threat and send the game to extra innings.