Spartans top NR for Clancy crown behind Yianacopolus

LYNN – St. Mary’s broke fast with two first-inning runs and sophomore left-hander Clay Yianacopolus converted that production into a two-hit, 2-0 shutout of North Reading in the Nipper Clancy championship game Monday afternoon at Fraser Field.Click here for a photo gallery.Yianacopolus, selected Tournament MVP, struck out six and retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced as the defending Div. 3 State Champion Hornets (18-2) mounted just a single threat in the fourth inning. Meanwhile, the Spartans closed the regular season at 14-6, having won eight of nine.”North Reading is an excellent team but we played them tight last year and were excited about the chance to face them again,” said coach Derek Dana, whose club knocked off Classical in Sunday’s semifinals, 2-1. “Clay was outstanding today and our pitching this weekend was terrific.”The Spartans flashed some serious leather in support of Yianacopolus. Vinny Capano – making his first start in left field – ended the fifth by ranging into the gap for a backhand snag of Ryan Sanborn’s line drive. With one out in the sixth first baseman Scott Betts went far to his right to handle Tom Day’s grounder, then barely won the footrace to the bag. Finally, with one on and one out in the seventh, third baseman Alec Costanza laid out to his left to snare Eric Gordon’s hard one-hopper and fired to Betts, who scooped the wide throw for the out.”Alec Costanza made a phenomenal play and Scotty made a great pick. Vinny went a long way for that ball in the gap. We’re going to need to play this kind of defense, get this kind of pitching and pick up the bats in the tournament,” said Dana.Chris Butler opened the game by lining a first-pitch single to right, took second on Justin O’Blenes’ sacrifice bunt and scored on an infield error that allowed Victor Molle to reach second. Molle crossed on Betts’ two-out, line-hugging single just inside third base. Otherwise, North Reading junior pitcher Scott Allan proved nearly as effective as Yianacopolus, yielding four hits while serving up 11 groundouts.North Reading’s best chance came in the fourth when Day lined his second hit off Yianacopolus’ glove. A dropped outfield fly followed and Colby Maiola’s fielder’s choice left runners at the corners with one out. However, Yianacopolus struck out Dennis Rolffs and retired Shane Driscoll on a pop to short right field.Yianacopolus suffered leg cramps during his warm-ups for the fifth inning but after a short delay spent stretching and hydrating, retired the Hornets on eight pitches.”Their kid pitched a terrific game. They out-hit us and they played better defense,” said North Reading coach Frank Carey, whose Cape Ann League Large champions will still be the top seed in the Division 3 North draw.English 5, Classical 3English prevailed in the consolation game, defeating Classical for the first time this season, 5-3, and no-hitting the Rams to boot. Junior Andrew Napoleon relieved Matt Merritt (coach Joe Caponigro said he had a sore arm) with no outs in the first inning, the bases loaded and one run in ? and while Classical got one more run in the frame, Napoleon pitched seven hitless innings, striking out one and walking four. The third Rams run scored in the fifth on two walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.”We didn’t know what (Napoleon) would be able to give us,” said Caponigro, whose team finished the season 9-11. “He pitched seven strong innings. He did a heck of a job.”Junior catcher/captain Drew Gentile had two RBI on two singles for English; Cam Haggerty had an RBI single and centerfielder Dana Stevens had a triple and a single. English lost to North Reading, 6-0, in its Clancy opener.