HS Baseball Roundup

Cardoni, Darling pitch gems

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

A day after a thrilling victory over fellow Central Mass powerhouse the Auburn Rockets, the Oxford Pirates dropped a squeaker on Thursday 6-5 to another strong Southern Worcester County League opponent, the David Prouty Panthers.

Dennis Sneade, (photo left) who has been fairly consistent on the mound, threw the ball well according to Pirates manager Justin Richards and went 5 1/3 innings keeping the game close, but it wasn’t the Pirates' day.

Sophomore Nick Bates (.458) had a pair of hits and a RBI, while freshmen catcher James Sheehan was 2 for 3 at the plate in defeat for the Pirates.

The Pirates are at Northbridge today (Wednesday) and at Sutton tomorrow in a pair of key tilts.

Dennis Sneade (left) pitched well in defeat.

Nick Cardoni:  Pirates righty Nick Cardoni (2-0) has been a real plus for the Pirates this season giving Oxford a strong trio of starters along with Ace Nick Lemay (5-0, 0.00 ERA) and Sneade.  His four hit win over Auburn clinched a district spot for the Pirates and at this point of the season it’s the districts that Richards and the Pirates have their eyes set on.

Darling beats Rockets:  Adam Darling (photo left) has come up with some pretty big pitching performances this year for the Shepherd Hill Rams and Friday’s performance against Central Mass powerhouse Auburn was no different.

Darling had previously beaten Oxford earlier in the year and now can add Auburn to his credits. The right-hander went the distance and struck seven in a gutsy effort 3-1 win.

Anthony Wilga and Bryan Stearns(.308) came up with some big hits in the victory for the Rams, who were 6-5 with an impressive 6-1 mark in SWCL play at press time.

The Rams are at home today against Leicester and have the Rockets coming in for a rematch on Friday also in Dudley.

Indians Struggling: The Bartlett Indians have had a rough go of it after starting the season 2-0.  Losing Tyler Mandeville hurt, but it’s also been sloppy play in the field that seems to be killing the Indians. If they want to turn things around and salvage this season, they need to start playing better defense.  They need to be making a lot less errors.

The Indians have key games at Uxbridge today (Wednesday) and in Spencer against David Prouty on Friday.

The Indians need to turn things around.

Hot Bats:  Along with Lemay and Bates, the Pirates are also getting lots of production at the plate from Mike Cicero (.482), Cardoni (.440), and first baseman Tyler Bostek, who has been clobbering the ball while hitting .405. 

Brady Ravenelle is leading the Rams at the plate with a .423 average, while Evan Anderson is leading the Indians with a .400 average.

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