Serino, Pizzano, Gordon impress in all-star game

Tony Serino joined the Massachusetts high school all-star baseball team as an add-on for its game against Connecticut at Norwich on Sunday. Game director Frank Carey is probably glad of the decision.That’s because Serino, a Saugus resident who played baseball for Malden Catholic, hit a sacrifice fly that proved the eventual winning run for Massachusetts in a 3-2 decision over Connecticut at Dodd Stadium.”The kid I was facing was a pretty good pitcher,” said Serino, who began the decisive at-bat by seeing a fastball that missed the zone and a changeup that he fouled off. “He threw a hanging breaking ball. I got a pretty good piece of it and drove it to centerfield.”Serino was one of three local players on the Bay State team. Dario Pizzano – like Serino, a Saugus resident who played for MC – collected two hits, manned the outfield and was an MVP for Massachusetts. (In 2003, Pizzano was also part of the Saugus American Little League team that played in the Little League World Series.)”(Pizzano) had some really good at-bats,” Serino said. “He had a pretty good game, too.”Meanwhile, Hunter Gordon of Swampscott pitched two innings, allowing an unearned run and fanning one. Later, he played shortstop and singled.Carey knows how good Gordon is from coaching against him. Carey, a Lynn resident, is the head coach at North Reading, and his Hornets teams have faced the Big Blue twice in the state tournament, in 2007 and 2008, with Gordon pitching for Swampscott both times.”He’s an outstanding high school pitcher, no question about it,” Carey said.The Massachusetts-Connecticut game dates back to 1980, when Carey got together with several Connecticut coaching counterparts to establish it. (He had founded the Massachusetts all-star game in 1978.) Over the years, the game has featured players who have advanced to play for big-league teams, including pitchers Manny Delcarmen, Carl Pavano, and Lynner Ken Hill (who had a 15-year career in the majors). One year, Carey recalled, two future major-leaguers pitched against each other – Rob Dibble of Connecticut against Massachusetts’ Bobby Witt.