Update after press time:
North Reading falls to Lynnfield 6-3 (April 19)
North Reading defeats Manchester Essex 5-1 (April 17)
North Reading defeats Ipswich 21-4 (April 16)
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
NORTH READING — “Man, it’s good to be back,” said North Reading baseball coach Eric Archambault as his team took the field last Thursday afternoon for their season-opener.
Despite a deep chill and threatening skies, it proved to be an exceptional game for the Hornets as they handed the visiting Triton Vikings a 3-1 defeat to launch the 2025 campaign. The chronic rainfall, which has recently plagued the region, also paused long enough to get in a Friday visit to
Pentucket and a 3-2 come-from-behind win. And on Monday, North Reading made it three straight, outdistancing Essex Tech, 11-7.
Facing Triton, the Hornets were lukewarm at the plate but defensively, there was an impressive array of remarkable fielding plays to forestall a late rally. Not once, but twice, North Reading fielders came up with dramatic catches. Liam Blanchette had the crowd buzzing their approval when he snared a hard liner off third base. And the very next Viking batter was robbed of an extra basehit when Max Forristall came up with a diving grab.
“Offensively, we were able to scratch out a couple of runs but our defensive performance today was just awesome,” said Archambault. “Triton hit the ball hard a few times but those dramatic diving plays took away their momentum and it was a great way to end the sixth inning.”
Forristall recorded the first run of the season in the second frame, scoring from third after stealing a pair of bases. Matt Mancinelli was credited with the season’s first RBI on the play. The Hornets added a pair in the fourth. Dylan Matthews drove in Ethan Quan for what proved to be the game winner and Antonio Ricca, who led his team with a pair of hits, outran a slow grounder, scoring Glenn Mello for insurance.
Matthews, who went the distance, allowed just three hits, fanning four. In mid-season form, the hurler brushed off a late triple and a run scored to claim the win.
“Our defense was incredible,” said Matthews, who faced just three over the minimum. “I had the mindset of just pounding the strike zone and trusting the defense one thousand percent, knowing they were going to make every play. That was the goal – throw strikes and let the defense make the plays.”
“Dylan pitched a phenomenal game,” said Archambault. “He relentlessly attacks the strike zone and makes hitters earn everything. He wants the ball and competes every time he’s out there.”
On Friday, Pentucket proved to be more of a challenge, taking a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning. North Reading battled back to tie it and then moved into a lead on a late Forrsitall RBI. Mello started on the hill and midway, was relieved by Quan who blanked the Panthers for the win.
Essex Tech paid a visit on Monday afternoon and quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead on back-to-back fielding errors. The defensive magic that contributed to the Hornets season-opening win was limited. Despite strong pitching from Nick Torra, the Hawks’ Cole Waterman sent a solo shot over the left field fence to double the lead.
North Reading bats came to life in the second, chalking up 3 runs on 4 hits to jump on top. Mancinelli, who drove in 4 runs on the day, brought in pinch runner Cam Parrett to halve the deficit. A Quan RBI-bunt added Mancinelli and later, Ricca plated Mello for a 3-2 lead. The Hornets added a pair of runs in the next inning to make it 5-2.
A baseball purist certainly would not have good things to say about the fourth inning, which featured 20 batters between the squads, pitching changes, an abundance of errors, and 9 total runs scored. Essex Tech pulled even at 5-5 but then in the bottom of the inning, North Reading surged to an 11-5 lead.
Despite giving up a 2-run homer in the fifth, Quan powered down the stretch to earn his second win.
“This was definitely not our prettiest game by any means,” said Archambault, who is 3-0 on the young season. “A lot of mistakes were made. While they were happy with the win, this veteran crew was not pumped. They know they can’t allow 7 runs, make the mistakes they made, and always end up on the winning side. We know we’re a better team than the one you saw today.”
North Reading hosted Ipswich on Tuesday (results in after press time), will travel to Manchester-Essex Thursday afternoon and will finish a busy week with a visit to archrival Lynnfield on Saturday at 10 a.m.