One Hit Sinks Red Raiders in Second Round of Tournament

One pitch. One hit.

That’s all it took to turn a nailbiter into beating yesterday as a fifth-inning grand slam by North Andover’s Rick O’Conner turned a tied game into a four-run rout en route to a 10-3 Knight win over the Red Raiders yesterday in a Division 2 North quarterfinal game.

“He’s been crushing the ball in practice lately,” North Andover coach Todd Dulin said of O’Conner. “He’s a good baseball player.”

While the scoreboard said it was a seven-run game, in reality, it was anything but. The Knights sent junior Brandon Walsh to the hill while Melrose countered with senior Andrew Scocca.

It was nip and tuck early as Walsh struck out four of the first six Red Raider batters and the Knights were able to take an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Melrose was able to load the bases in the second, but another of Walsh’s 12 strikeouts ended the Red Raider rally. Walsh threw 129 pitches over six innings of work.

The Knights extended their lead to three in the third, before Melrose was able to break through in the fourth. Thanks to multiple walks by Walsh and a timely hit by Chris Fimiani, the Red Raiders tied the game at three and took over momentum.

The game stalled for the next few innings until O’Conner’s slam blew the floodgates open for the Knights who added three more in the sixth to reach the double-digit mark for the second time in as many games.

“Very tough loss,” Melrose coach Bill Hirshfeld said. “One pitch makes a difference in a game.”

With the win the Scarlet Knights extend their winning streak to 21 games which dates back to April 9. Up next for North Andover is a semifinal date against 13th-seeded Gloucester Thursday night at Fraser Field in Lynn. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Download the movie