By Russ Waterman
MaxPreps.com
Three Dual County League teams – Westford Academy, defending Division 1 state champ Lincoln-Sudbury and Acton-Boxborough – are ranked in Boston Globe's Top 20 for eastern Massachusetts as of May 12.
But if it all works out this week, No. 2 Westford, by extending its current win streak by two to 15 games, may have a chance to be at the pinnacle.
Even so, it has been a rapid climb for the Grey Ghosts, who until two years ago were in Division 2, having won the Eastern Mass title in 2003.
"The Dual County League has expanded into Large and Small and we are the smallest school in DCL Large," Westboro coach Jeff Kane said of his squad. "The DCL continues to get better and we had seven of nine teams in the state tournament last year."
Kane points to his pitching staff as the biggest reason for the team's success.
"Our number one is Derek Klinka, who is 5-0 with a 2.21 ERA and has 41 strikeouts in 29 innings," Kane said of his Holy Cross-bound senior ace.
Aptly-named Mike Victory, he continued, isn't far behind, with a 4-0 mark and 1.48 ERA in 38 innings. Colin Royal and others have also bolstered the staff.
"We're strong up the middle, with Luke Mooney (who will be attending MIT) at shortstop," Kane said.
Adding to the middle infield strength is second baseman Zach Robins, who has hit .400 or better each of the last two seasons.
"We are deep and interchangeable; we're aggressive and run the bases well and like to put pressure on teams," Kane said, adding that leadoff batter Andrew Chandler, a junior lefthander, often sets that tone by getting on base.
"Our benchmark win was against (seventh-ranked) Lincoln-Sudbury, 7-5, in extra innings," Kane said. "They (Lincoln-Sudbury) have been the cream of the crop for many years in the league. So we went to their place, fell behind by three runs early but battled back to win in extra innings. Our ace (Klinka) battled their ace and he went on to pitch a complete game by allowing only one base runner the last four innings. A pinch-hit single by Alex Cloutier finally put us ahead."
The schedule this week, provided the Grey Ghosts win, gives Westford (4-1 in DCL) a chance to create some breathing space between itself and the second-place teams, L-S and No. 20 Acton-Boxborough, both at 3-2.
"We have a huge game at Acton-Boxboro on Wednesday night. It will be our ace against theirs, Scott Weisman, who has been signed by Clemson, and will give us an opportunity to win the league for the first time in at least five years," Kane said, ironically noting he grew up in Acton-Boxborough and also played for Clemson.
Conference Races Headed for a Photo Finish
Here are a few leagues in which the battle for the respective conference titles will likely rage on until the end of the regular season. All records are conference records:
* Middlesex League: Winchester, at 12-2, is barely ahead of Reading and Belmont, each at 11-3.
* Merrimack Valley Division 1: Central Catholic and Andover are knotted at 7-2.
* South Shore: Abington and East Bridgewater are tied at 7-2.
* Hockomock League: Franklin (9-4) and Oliver Ames (10-3) aren't just vying with each for the league lead. Right behind them is Attleborough (8-4) and Foxboro (7-4).
* Northeastern North: Peabody (7-4) can't feel too comfortable with three 6-4 teams –Beverly, Lynn English and Salem – all within breathing distance.
* Cape Ann Division 1: North Andover is 7-1 but hot on the heels is Masconomet (8-2) and Newburyport (7-2).
Pitching Elite Paves Way to Success
A team with good starting pitching usually rules in high school baseball. Among the pitchers cited below, nearly every one of them is unbeaten or close to it in leading their teams to winning, if not league-leading records.
The 0.00 Earned-Run Average Club:
* Nate Koneski of No. 12 Dighton-Rehoboth, the South Coast Conference leader, has a 6-0 record and has not allowed a run in 36 innings.
* Brian O'Neil of Cape Ann Division 2-leading North Reading hasn't seen an earned run cross the plate, either, and has a 4-1 mark in 37 innings.
The 1.5-Plus Strikeout-Per-Inning Club:
* Davidson Peguero is 4-1 for No. 14 Matignon, Catholic Central Division 2 leader. Peguero is the only pitcher in Eastern Mass with a strikeout-per-inning ratio of over two, mowing down 72 batters in just 35 innings for a startling 2.03 mark.
* Michael Johnson of Brooks in the Independent School League nearly matches Peguero, recording a deadly strikeout efficiency of 44 in 22 2/3 innings, or 1.96 per inning.
* Koneski is the only pitcher to make both of these elite 'clubs,' with 68 strikeouts in 36 innings for a strikeout average of 1.9 per inning.
* Joe Flynn of Plymouth North, the Atlantic Coast North leader, is the ace of the No. 3 and still-unbeaten Eagles (15-0). With his 6-0 record, he has whiffed 61 batters in just 40 innings for a 1.50 average.
* Blaine O'Brien is 5-1 with 80 strikeouts in 46 innings for a 1.71 per inning mark at Scituate, but he's an exception to the rule of being a winning club. With Scituate currently at 8-8, the Sailors might miss the playoffs unless O'Brien makes at least two more starts to gain the required 10-10 standard.
* Jack Leathersich of Beverly has 62 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings for a superb average of 1.8 per inning.
* Steve Leahy of Latin Academy, second at 11-1 to Boston English in Boston City League North, has a 4-0 record and has struck out an average of 1.6 batters per contest, 43 in 27 innings.
* Bob Dean of Danvers, the Northeastern South leader, is 4-0 and has struck out 49 batters in 31 innings for a 1.6 average.
* Corey Batista of Bishop Connolly in the Eastern Athletic Conference is 2-2, but has recorded 45 Ks in 28 2/3 innings for a 1.54 average.
* Dylan Flynn of Chatham, whose team has already clinched Mayflower League Large Division, is 5-0 and has struck out 63 batters in 40 innings for a 1.58 average, matched by Weisman at 5-1 for Acton-Boxboro, who has also snuffed out 63 batters in his 40 innings of work.
Russ Waterman covers Massachusetts and Rhode Island for MaxPreps.com. He may be reached at rwathoop3@aol.com.
