By Sean Brennan
NORTH ANDOVER – It’s not how you start but how you finish.
In an early afternoon Merrimack Valley Conference Large showdown, yesterday between North Andover and Central Catholic, the Scarlet Knights and starting pitcher Brendan Parisotto proved that old adage to be true.
After allowing an unearned run to the visiting Raiders in the first inning, Parisotto (CG, 10 strikeouts) faced just two batters over the minimum the rest of the way to lead North Andover to a 7-1 win.
“Maybe it was the early start, but we weren’t mentally ready in the first inning, but after that we settled in and relaxed,” said NA coach Todd Dulin. “(Brendan) has been pounding the strike zone this year and I thought he had an outstanding performance.”
North Andover (4-0) struggled against Central starter Steve Hajjar (six strikeouts) the first time through the lineup, but with one out in the third, Brian Varoutsos doubled and later came around to score on a two-out RBI single from Parisotto. The Scarlet Knights would take the lead for good later in the frame on an RBI base hit by Joe Bramanti.
With Parisotto cruising, North Andover added to its lead in the fourth when Mitchell McQuate singled, took second on an errant pickoff and raced around to score on an infield groundout by Joe Kramer, which made it 3-1.
And after Central Catholic (2-1) went in order in the fifth, Christoffer Keane opened the home half with a double and took third on a single by Parisotto. Keane would score on a sacrifice fly-out by Bramanti, and Parisotto raced home on an RBI double off the bat of Trevor Ham, who would score to make it 6-1 on a sacrifice fly RBI by Connor Morin.
A Varoutsos’ RBI triple in the sixth put the Scarlet Knights up 7-1, and Parisotto (2-0) struck out the last two batters he faced to close it out.
“We have eight starters back from last year,” Dulin said. “When you looked at our early season schedule, we could have easily been 1-3, so we couldn’t be happier with where we are at.”
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