Blue Baseball Gaining Momentum

The team won its fifth game Wednesday against Lynn Classical.

  After weathering early season losses the Swampscott High baseball team has turned the tables on opponents. They registered big wins in recent games against Lynn Classical, Wednesday, and Salem, Monday. On Wednesday in Lynn, rightie junior Al Wallach went 6 2/3 innings for the win, 15-6. Ryan January reached base six times in the game with two singles, two walks and two hit-by-pitches. He also drove in two runs, said Jason Calichman, the coach. Senior shortstop Trevor Massey went 3 for 5. On Monday, Trevor pitched six innings striking out 12 in a 17-7 win over Salem. Swampscott hitters crunched three homers including a grand slam by Corey Carmody, a three-run pop by Mike Lan and a two-run shot by Ryan January. The Blue are now 5-6 on the …

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Big Blue Sports

To Build a Program: Baseball Coaches Stress Traditional Approach

First-year Swampscott High baseball coach Jason Calichman and assistants Kevin Rogers and Brendan Nolan are building a culture that draws on hustle, communication, respect, competition and fun.

  The final drill of the Swampscott High baseball practice is situational. Runners on first and third. Pitcher goes into his stretch. Pitches to the batter. Runner on first breaks for second. Gets caught in a rundown — a pickle. Now the players put into practice qualities the new coaching staff wants them to display in their entire game. To distill what first-year coach Jason Calichman and assistants Kevin Rogers and Brendan Nolan have been telling the kids — play the game the right way. Communicate. Hustle. Back each other up. Compete. Back on the diamond the catcher hollers "four." He wants the middle infielder to throw home to nail the runner at the plate. On another sequence, the second baseman chases the runner back to first diving …

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You Asked: A Baseball Coach Yet?

We put your question to Swampscott High Athletic Director Jon Flanagan

  Question: Has Swampscott High hired a varsity baseball coach? Answer: Swampscott Athletic Director Jon Flanagan said on Wednesday night that he had not hired a varsity baseball coach yet. He said he has a strong pool of applicants. Big Blue baseball starts March 18.   Former varsity coach T.J. Baril announced earlier this month that he took a baseball coaching job at Masconomet Regional High School.

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PHOTOS: Former Major Leaguers at Jimmy Fund Game in Peabody

Some old time players (Oil Can Boyd) and some not so old (Jeff Allison) bested the combined Peabody-Lynnfield Police departments, 6-4.

Peabody's finest once again took the diamond at Emerson Park on Labor Day against the North Shore Old Timers for charity's sake. And once again, Lynnfield police joined their Peabody brethren on the field. The charity baseball game celebrated its 56th consecutive year, pitting police against former professional athletes from around the North Shore, including several former Red Sox players. The Old Timers lineup featured Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, Chris Howard, Rawly Eastwick, Kenny Ryan and Peabody's own Steve Lomasney and John Tudor, along with Jeff Allison as well this year. The day began with a baseball clinic for ages 8-12 before the game. Sign up for Swampscott Patch’s daily newsletter, “like” us on Facebook and “…

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Mercy Rule Short Circuits All-Stars, 14-3

Rules Preclude Any Chance at a Miracle Comeback

  The annals of sport are chock-full of thrilling stories of great comebacks, as teams written off or deemed finished salvage something that rockets them to unexpected success.  Anybody remember the 2004 Red Sox? Well, that doesn't happen in Little League.  The rules say that if one team is down by 10 or more runs after four ininnings, the game is over, so Swampscott's 12-year-old All Stars were forced, by rule, to swallow a disappointing 14-3 loss to Lynnfield Sunday in the opening round of tournament play. Make no mistake, Lynnfield is a powerhouse, as they walloped Swampscott starter Liam Faulkner for 8 runs in the first two innings, powered by three home runs.  But Swampscott is a scrappy bunch, and they showed the potential to chip …

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Big Blue Sports

Baseball And Softball Tourney Pairings Announced

Both the Big Blue teams will be in action Thursday.

  The MIAA has posted brackets for the high school baseball and softball tournaments and both Big Blue teams earned byes in their preliminary rounds and will face opponents Thursday. The Swampscott High baseball team, 14-6, plays at home 3 pm against Austin Prep, 11-9. The game will be on the team's Forest Avenue field. The Swampscott High softball team, 13-7, travels for a 2:15 pm game Thursday againt Bedford, 15-5. The MIAA brackets are posted on the association's website. Editor's Note: The original bracket released by the MIAA had the Swampscott softball team playing Winchester on Thursday. Later, Swampscott's opponent was changed to Bedford.

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: May 7

The Finance Committee voted unanimously on Thursday, with one abstention, to recommend funding Blocksidge Field improvements.

  1) Newsbit of the Day: The Finance Committee voted unanimously on Thursday, with one abstention, to recommend funding Blocksidge Field improvements. Town Meeting delegates will vote on the proposed improvements tonight in the high school auditorium. 2) Swampscott Scholars: Swampscott High inducted 29 National Honor Society members on March 13. The society honors students for excellence in four areas: scholarship, leadership, service and character. One of the 29 students was Alyse Lavoie. 3) Swampscott Athletics: The varsity boys lacrosse team plays Salem at 4 pm at Blocksidge Field. At 6:30 pm, boys varsity baseball plays Peabody at the Forest Avenue ball field.  4) Weather Watch:  The National Weather Service is predicting a sunny day …

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Big Blue Sports

Meninno Blanks Gloucester 4-0

Swampscott's lefty went the distance with no walks and 8 Ks while his teammates executed in the field and generated the offense needed for the win.

  The Swampscott baseball coaches had plenty to smile about watching their team combine pitching, defense and timely hitting for a 4-0 win against Gloucester. The Wednesday morning shutout hurled by lefty Nick Meninno at the Forest Avenue ball fied bumped Blue's record north of .500 to 3-2. Meninno struck out eight and gave no batter a free pass. He was scratched for three hits. "No walks is huge," Coach TJ Baril said. "He was dominant." The pitcher threw fastball, change-up, curve and his fielders backed him up making the routine plays and the not so routine plays. Two of them were nifty double plays, the coach said. in the fourth inning, Mike Walsh knocked down a line drive at first, stepped on the bag and threw to shortstop Trevor …

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Terry Date

10:13 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012

Thank you, Christine.   more ›

Winter Baseball is Heating Up

The local demand for playing baseball was so great in the Second Wave baseball program that it added a team in the 8- to 10-year-old division.

  This article was submitted by Second Wave baseball. The only way to improve upon last winter's indoor baseball season was to get more local area boys involved. At least that was the initial mindset of Second Wave General Manager Rob Hopkins.  "We had 12 boys playing last winter, with another two who we called up when we were down some players," he said.  "Those boys played three and a half months of baseball before the outdoor season even started.  Every one of our players improved over the course of last winter and racheted up their baseball skills."  However, the Second Wave baseball program found themselves in a bit of a quandry heading into this winter's indoor season — they returned 10 of 12 boys from last year's team, quickly …

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Babe Ruth Coming Back to Town

The teams will play in two leagues, one for 13-year-olds and one for 14- and 15-year-olds.

  There is exciting news for Swampscott and Nahant baseball players, ages 13-15.  A new organization, Swampscott-Nahant Babe Ruth Baseball, has been formed to return Swampscott to Babe Ruth Baseball. The new program will play in two leagues, one for 13 year olds and one for 14 and 15 year olds.  Both leagues will play integrated schedules with Marblehead’s Babe Ruth program, with the possibility of inter-league play with additional local programs.  The move to Babe Ruth allows for several exciting changes to the big diamond baseball program in Swampscott.  First, playing in a Babe Ruth program will allow us to play a joint schedule with Marblehead.  Second, this allows us to split into two leagues.  The 13 year old only league provides a …

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