LYNN — Troy Flood was absorbing all he could about the Harry Agganis legacy while standing on Fraser Field after Sunday’s Agganis baseball game.
The North MVP in a 3-0 win over the South collected a single and a double, knocked in a run and scored another – one of the few players on either side to hit the ball where there wasn’t a fielder within reach.
There were several sparkling defensive plays on both sides. Lynn English’s Kenry Manzanillo, the South MVP, handled six chances at shortstop flawlessly. And Salem’s Corey Grimes made a nice running catch in right field off a line drive by the South’s Reymi Andino of Peabody, with two runners on base, that could have spelled trouble for his team.
“This is always a great game to coach,” said the South’s Joe Caponigro of Swampscott, who split the duties with Classical’s Leon Elwell. “I got to coach a lot of kids who played against us during the season, and got to talk to a lot of them. It was a great group of kids.”
Flood, being from Manchester-Essex, didn’t know much about Harry Agganis coming into this game. But he didn’t care.
“This isn’t just another all-star game,” the Auburn-bound Flood said. “It has someone’s name attached to it. It means a lot to play it, and to be named MVP.”
When informed of Agganis’ exploits as Lynn’s greatest athlete ever – a turn-of-the-century poll commissioned by The Item anointed him as such – he seemed more incredulous with each bit of information.
“Did he really?” Flood asked when told Agganis was on the Red Sox, that he played football next door at Manning Field, and that he was an All-American at Boston University. “That’s amazing.”
With one out in the top of the second inning, Flood singled and came all the way around from first on Tyler Feldberg’s (Masconomet) long double to give the North a 1-0 lead.
Masco’s Ryan Corcoran started the fifth inning with a single and took second on a wild pitch. Flood followed with a triple to score Corcoran and make the score 2-0. One inning later, Paul Donnolly, another Masco product, singled and eventually scored on a base hit by Andover’s Adam Green.
“I was very excited to be invited to play in this game,” said Manzanillo, who has not decided on a college yet. “I never expected to be playing.”
“This was a fun game,” said Salem’s Matt Hubauer, who played at Swampscott and currently coaches the Witches.
“It was great to coach this year’s seniors in this game,” added Hubauer, who played in the game when he was a senior.
