Clippers Surge Into Post-season With Six-game Winning Streak
The Newburyport High baseball team will roll into the Division 3 North Sectional battle-tested and with momentum after closing the regular season with a six-game winning streak to finish 13-7 under second-year coach Steve Malenfant.
The Clippers are seeded eighth in the 19-team North field and will face No. 9 Charlestown (10-6) in a first-round game this Friday afternoon, May 31, at Pettingell Park (4 p.m.). The Townies finished second in the Boston City League's South Division.
A win would move the Clippers into the quarterfinal round next week (TBD) against the survivor of the North Reading/Swampscott/Watertown bracket. Swampscott and Watertown have a preliminary round game Thursday with the winner advancing to Saturday's first-round game at North Reading (4). Top-seeded North Reading (18-2) is the Cape Ann League Large champion and the reigning Division 3 State champion, having succeeded the 2011 champion Clippers.
Newburyport enjoyed a productive Memorial Day weekend. After upending Georgetown in the semifinal round of the Spofford Tournament on Sunday, 4-1, the Clippers picked up a pair of wins on Monday. First they traveled to Salem State College to complete a game suspended by rain and picked up a 5-4 win against Northeastern Conference power Beverly in nine innings. They returned to Georgetown in the afternoon and defeated Triton for the third time this season, 3-1, to win the Spofford Tournament championship.
Senior Connor MacRae picked up the win Sunday against Georgetown, then drove in the game-winning run in both games Monday.
The Clippers kicked off their closing six-game winning streak on May 16 with an 8-7 win against Triton. Close wins against Hamilton-Wenham (1-0) and Pentucket (3-1) preceded this past weekend's three-game sweep.
Seniors have powered the Clippers' offense all season, paced by Colby Morris (.342, 8 RBI), captain Ryan Short (.313), captain Connor Wile (.312, 13 RBI), Connor MacRae (.312, 10 RBI), and captain Colton Fontaine (.290, 8 RBI). Sophomore Chance Carpenter has nine stolen bases while senior Ian Michaels has scored a team-high 12 runs.
Pitching has been the team's strength as the Clippers yielded just 44 runs in 20 games while posting a microscopic 1.20 team ERA. The staff WHIP is a sparkling 0.976 in 140 total innings.
MacRae is 4-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 40 innings. Morris owns a 3-2 mark with a 0.40 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 35 innings. Junior James Nutter (3-0, 0.35 ERA) and senior Evan Habib (3-3, 2.88 ERA) round out an effective quartet while freshman Scott Webster has been effective in a limited role with one save and a 0.53 ERA in 13.3 innings.
