Classical’s ride ends in North final

LYNN – The clock finally struck midnight on the Classical baseball team Monday at Fraser Field.Facing a North Andover squad that had won 22 straight games coming into the Division 2 North finals, the 15th seeded Rams were foiled by five errors and a 13 strikeout performance from Cape Ann League MVP Brandon Walsh as the Scarlet Knights swept to a 4-0 win.Click here for a photo gallery.”We simply beat ourselves,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “We didn’t have the timely hitting that we had through the tournament and we made too many errors. Baseball is a funny game sometimes.”Classical’s defensive struggles delivered a fate that pitcher Jorge Perez likely didn’t deserve on Monday. The junior held an explosive lineup to one earned run on seven hits but saw two innings extended because of mistakes that led to three runs.”(Perez) pitched really well,” North Andover coach Todd Doyon said. “He kept us off balance and moved the ball around well. We just took advantage of the chances we got.”Walsh also had a lot to do with the Rams’ fate on Monday as the lanky junior painted the corners all game long. Mixing an effective curve with a stellar fastball, Walsh struck out 13 and walked three in his complete-game gem.”Jorge did a great job. He gave us a chance to win,” Zukowski said. “But take nothing away from Walsh. He pitched a great game too.”Classical (13-11) put John Finnigan aboard to lead off the second, but he was picked off by Walsh on a botched steal attempt. The Scarlet Knights (23-1) then took advantage of the first sign of nerves by the Rams to break the ice in the bottom of the second.A pair of singles and a Tyler Leavitt fielder’s choice put runners at first and second with two outs. Dan Laorenza then hit a grounder to short that handcuffed Wilfredo Feliz and loaded the bases.Griffin Coakley then hit a bouncer to third that was mishandled, allowing Leavitt to score for a 1-0 lead.As Classical’s defense was beginning to suffer a meltdown, North Andover’s defense behind Walsh came up with a game-defining play.Kyle Devin doubled with two outs to give the Rams a lift in the fourth. Finnigan followed with a single to center. David Foote came up firing and threw a strike to Jon Swanton at the plate to cut down Devin and end the inning.”We got the big hit to center from John but the kid made a great throw to get Kyle at the plate,” Zukowski said.Just like the second inning, North Andover fed off the defensive play to extend its lead in the bottom of the fourth.Walsh singled before Dom Nicolosi ripped a double into the right field corner, scoring Walsh from first for a 2-0 lead. Nicolosi was thrown out at third on the play.Perez then struck out Laorenza before Coakley reached on a throwing error. After stealing second, Coakley would score when Foote’s grounder was misplayed into a 3-0 lead.The Rams would have their best chance to get to Walsh in the top of the fifth.Francisco Tolentino walked before Greg Rybak and Perez ripped singles to load the bases. Walsh, though, bore down and got Huebert Segura and Kyle Gauthier to end the inning.”We get the bases loaded in the fifth and can’t come up with the big hit,” Zukowski said.Walsh would be part and parcel to the Scarlet Knights’ final run as he doubled to left with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and scored on the Rams’ final error of the game.The junior then struck out the side in the sixth before pitching around two singles in the seventh, getting Gauthier to line out to first for the final out.