As manager of Newton’s American Legion Post 440 baseball squad, Manny Connerney has seen the rains play havoc with the team’s schedule, making it hard to manage a pitching staff.
(Bill Polo/Globe Staff/File 2007)
Globe West On the Diamond
Legion teams playing night in, night out following rains
As manager of Newton’s American Legion Post 440 baseball squad, Manny Connerney has seen the rains play havoc with the team’s schedule, making it hard to manage a pitching staff.
(Bill Polo/Globe Staff/File 2007)
Manny Connerney considers his pitching staff on the Newton American Legion Post 440’s baseball team well-balanced and deep.
But by last Sunday, at the conclusion of a stretch of seven games in six days for his club, the longtime skipper found himself in a situation not uncommon at this date in the schedule.
Running out of gas.
Post 440 held a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning, but visiting Reading rallied for three runs against the Newton bullpen for an 8-7 Zone 5 win.
He had handed the ball to a youngster to start the game and called on a few relievers on short rest.
“It hurts, because I have three games coming up, so I’ve got to save my number one and number two’’ starters, Connerney said after the loss, which dropped his squad to 5-3. “Maybe I should have brought in a closer? I don’t know, I would have thrown more arms than I needed. It’s between a rock and a hard place, really.’’
Inevitably, the steady rain over the last several weeks has created a logjam of games waiting to be played for most area American Legion teams, whether they are playing in zone 4, 5, or 6.
District 4 (18 teams) is scheduled to complete the regular season by Friday, with Saturday as a makeup day, and then the top nine squads advance to the playoffs (the team with the best record automatically gets a berth in the sectionals). District 5 (19 teams) closes its schedule July 16, with July 17 a makeup day, and the top four teams advance to the sectional playoffs.
So the crunch is on. Northborough’s American Legion Post 234 squad played games on 13 straight days before a rainout Wednesday night afforded a day off. But Thursday night’s matchup against Framingham’s Legion Post 74 kicked off a stretch of 10 games scheduled over 10 days.
“The kids seem a little tired at times, especially coming off a high school season where a majority of my guys went deep into the postseason,’’ said Northborough manager Mike Mocerino, who has his team off to a 9-4 start.
“The way I tell them is that you’ve got to look at the perspective of, if they’re going to play college ball, they’re looking at a 40- to 50-game season. They’ve got to take care of their body.’’
Mocerino, whose pitching staff is built around Algonquin Regional High stalwarts such as Graham Turner, Mike Speranzella, and Mike Bonner, said that given the unrelenting schedule, he shies away from taking on pitchers that shouldered a heavy workload during the high school season. It’s a point of emphasis for a number of area coaches.
“You definitely keep that mind. It’s always a factor,’’ said Ashland American Legion Post 77 manager Dennis Baker Jr., following a loss to Sudbury on Tuesday evening.
“You always want to be sensitive to the kids’ arms,’’ said Baker. “We’ve got guys who came back from college, they can throw a little more. But any time after about 90 pitches, you’re ready to make the change.’’
The Sudbury Legion Post 191 squad, led by Len Noce, is another one bucking trends.
With pitcher Derek Lowe tossing a complete game in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Ashland, Sudbury improved to 11-0 and wrapped up a six-day odyssey. The pitching staff is admittedly thinner this summer, but no less talented. Connor Buckley, Mike Antonellis, and Ryan Wood each threw a complete game during this streak, while Lowe hurled two.
“You always anticipate it,’’ Noce said of his lineup. “They’ve got good defense behind him, we’re getting a little bit of offense, the pressure isn’t there right now . . . whereas opposed to during the high school season a couple errors could end up costing you 15 or 20 pitches.’’
Ravenelle shows his stuff
After a promising sophomore campaign at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High, Adam Ravenelle has turned a few heads his summer. In a team showcase last week in Clemson, S.C., with the AAU New England Ruff Necks, the 16-year-old righty regularly hit 85 to 88 miles per hour, and is alleged to have touched 90. He had been called up to the 18-and-under squad for the showcase.
Unlike many individual showcases, in which players are given a certain amount of at-bats, pitches, and fielding opportunities, the Clemson Invitational was a chance for scouts to see how players react in game situations.
Against the South Carolina-based Diamond Devils, one of the country’s top-ranked AAU programs, Ravenelle pitched four innings of two-hit ball.
A number of scouts and college coaches were there to see the Diamond Devils roster of Division 1 and big league prospects. But with his performance, Ravenelle figures to be on somebody’s radar.
“He’s a kid we broke in slightly during the high school season,’’ said Kirk Fredericks, head coach at Lincoln-Sudbury and a roving instructor with the Ruff Necks. “Every outing, something got better, something important.’’
Brendan Hall can be reached at bhall59@ hotmail.com. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
