Wicked Local Walpole Youth Sports News

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   More often than not, sequels to great productions are pretty average, and nothing to rave about. Just ask Hollywood.
   The idea will begin to sink in about what they mean by “formulaic” in Tinsel Town when one watches the second “Planet of the Apes” movie, and every “Apes” sequel after that.
   Then again, every now and then the second production is just as brilliant as the first, such as the second “Godfather” movie or the rematch of boxers Mohammed Ali and Joltin’ Joe Frasier.
   Add last week’s rematch between the Walpole Americans and Walpole Nationals to that list.
   Playing a game just as intense as, and even longer than, their first meeting in the district championship game Walpole’s two 12-year-old Little League teams battled to the last out in the semifinal showdown of the Surburban League’s Super 12 championship.
   Adding to the argument of which of the two teams is better – the defensive-minded Americans or the power-hitting Nationals, the Nationals …

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   When the Walpole Americans and Walpole Nationals finally met in the District 11 12-year-old Little League championship game last month, it was expected by most to be a showdown between two diverse, yet equally matched squads.
   While the bigger Nationals are known for their prodigious hitting and the smaller Americans for their slick fielding and team speed, one thing both squads had in common was outstanding pitching.
   It was this mound work that helped the teams battle through one of the best Little League games in Walpole history, with the Americans outlasting the Nationals, 1-0, in a classic extra-inning duel, sending them on to the sectional championship and state’s Sweet 16.
   Following that game, witnessed by one of the biggest crowds ever at Norwood’s Kelley Field (nearly 1,000 spectators), the consensus was that a rematch between the two would bear similar results.
   The baseball pundits proved right Tuesday night, at least for three more innings, before torrential rains finally washed out the Suburban League championship semifinal. The contest is …

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   It’s bad enough to lose a tough game. It’s worse when that team beats you at your own game, which is what happened to the Walpole 14-year-old Babe Ruth team in the state tourney last Saturday.
   To get into the state tourney Walpole seemed to have almost patented the come-from-behind last-second win, getting walk-off hits on do-or-die situation to assure a “tomorrow” twice in a row.
   The 14s, in fact, appeared to have conjured a third straight come-from-behind win at Balch Field Saturday when they fought off a 4-0 Weymouth lead and tied it at 4-all in the top of the seventh.
   That’s when Weymouth stole a page from their playbook, however, rallying for momentum in the bottom of the seventh and walking off with a hard-fought 5-4 victory.
   The loss seemed to take some of the starch out of Walpole, which struggled in the first round of the loser’s bracket against Newton Sunday night, falling behind 6-0 before a huge seventh-inning eruption left them …

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   For those of us locals who haven’t had enough Walpole baseball this weekend, there are still two more games to be watched Sunday before heading back to the 9-to-5 grind Monday morning.

  Sunday morning, the 12-year-old Walpole Americans will be trying to get back on track after having their Williamsport train slowed down Friday by Newton Central, 3-0.

   Newton Central had jumped out to an early lead in the second inning on a couple of fluke hits, one glancing off the top of pitcher Nick Falkson’s glove. Other than that Falkson was as good as ever, unfortunately counterpart Ben Porter was equally strong, carrying a one-hitter into the sixth before John Levenfeld took over and completed the shutout.

   Liam Kelliher, who played a solid short, got the one hit off Levenfeld, as he rocketed a line single to left to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Walpole’s other safety in the Newton two-hitter came in the sixth when James Newman lined a single through second …

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   If not for one fluky play, last Wednesday’s classic District 11 championship between the Walpole Americans and Walpole Nationals could still be going on.
   The play came in the seventh inning of the six-inning showdown between the two District 11 powerhouses, and allowed the Americans to score the only run of the game. Until then the two Walpole teams finished regulation in a scoreless tie, as each played near perfectly throughout the game.
   “That was one of the best three or four games I’ve ever been involved in,” declared Walpole American assistant coach Chris Costello, who was drafted out of Walpole High School by the Dodgers and since then has coached Post 104 to a state final and is an assistant coach to WHS varsity mentor Bill Tompkins.
   Translation: Costy has seen quite a few impressive ball games.
   This, indeed, was a great one as both Walpole teams came to play and totally enthralled a packed house of hundreds of Walpole fans …

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   Kelley Field in Norwood was not named for Andrew Kelley, but it might as well have been.
   In two games in which the Walpole National 12-year-old Little League team dominated both Hopkinton and the Norwood Americans this week, Kelley was completely dominant.
   He started the tourney by cruising on the mound through a 9-1 shellacking of Hopkinton in the District 11 tourney opener, adding a two-one homer as an exclamation point to his performance.
   While the Major League home run derby ended Monday night in St. Louis, Kelley’s didn’t. He helped put the Nationals in the title game against the Walpole Americans with two more round-trippers Tuesday, pacing a 14-0 rout of the Norwood Americans that ended in the fourth inning of a mercy-rule ended game.
   The Nationals made it look too easy as they trampled the opposition by a combined 23-1.
“They’re flying high; they’re one of the most confident bunches I’ve ever coached,” offered mentor Brian …

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   Lacrosse still may be the fastest growing girls’ sport in Walpole, but it also is still getting healthy competition from old standby softball.
   That could become even more significant with new developments both in the Walpole Girls Softball Association’s ranks and on WGSA’s fields, especially at Bird School.
   Thanks to hard work both on the fundraising and constructing side of things, almost overnight the field at Bird School has become nearly state of the art, with a batting cage joining the pitching cage along right field, a press box and announcer’s booth going up behind home plate, and a beautiful new scoreboard standing behind left field.
   Thanks to donations, fund raising and the willingness of members to roll up their sleeves, costs were handled totally by the organization, with the town having to pay nothing.
   “This will be fantastic for the years to come,” offers WGSA’s first-year president, Bruce Cochrane. “We’ll have an intercom system for championship games, and both the younger kids and the high school …

   Perseverance pays off. Just ask the members of this year’s Walpole Youth Football B squad.
For three years, they struggled in the most successful system in the league, only winning a couple of games. This Walpole Pride met its nadir just last fall when, as a “C” team, they suffered through a winless season, rare for Walpole.
   A lot of players on a lot of teams anywhere would have said that’s enough, cashed in their chips, and tried another sport.
   Not these guys. After all they’re called the Pride for a reason, and to a man they came back to the gridiron wars this past fall with the hopes of at least winning a game.
   They did much more. In one of the best turnarounds ever by a Walpole football team, the “B” shut down Weymouth in a showdown at the end of the season to secure not only third place behind unbeaten champion Natick and Norwood, but also their first winning season as a team, with a 6-4 record.
   The 7-0 shutout November 9 was their second, and the sixth time the Pride defense had held an opponent to a touchdown or less. The only teams to score more than once on them were Natick, which averaged 24.4 points a game to lead all teams in the league at every level, and archrival Norwood.
   Walpole actually came within a hair of 8-2 as they were beaten by a field goal, 3-0 in their opener with Framingham (which the Pride took in the rematch, 22-6), and were beaten by Natick on the second-to-last play in an 18-12 loss.
   The 19-14 win over Norwood at Turco Field October 5 was the high point of the season, but the 7-0 victory over Weymouth, battling for third in the finale with the Pride, was also special.
   “This group had only two or three wins in three years,” explained Head Coach Bill Hickey. “They’ve run into some tough luck. But Kyle Raftery stepped up and had a great year, and Nathan Cameron played well. He’s a good athlete.
   “But the biggest challenge on a team is to have a decent offensive line, and you need kids who want to work hard at it. We show the kids the game films, and watch them Wednesday nights. They’re a great teaching tool, because films don’t lie.”
   They won quite a few games on defense this year; in fact they led the league in points against, just like the league champion “A” and “C” squads did. Among the highlights were shutting down Natick’s latest Flutie phenom until he ran back a ball about 50 yards for that game-winning touchdown. Another big defensive play was the fumble recovery by Cameron, brother of Walpole High Captain Chris, to secure the Norwood win.
   It was the secondary that shone in the finale, however. Walpole picked off three passes against the Wildcats to shut down their air attack and preserve the shutout.
   The game started out as a classic defensive tug-of-war. Raftery, the big back also known as “the Bulldog,” was getting his yards but the big Weymouth line was steeling itself just enough to keep him from reaching paydirt. Walpole was also getting key yards out of Cameron, adding speed to Raftery’s power.
   Perhaps the biggest defensive series for the Pride came at the start of the second quarter. It started out with Weymouth marching the ball from its own territory to Walpole’s 5-yard line on a series of runs up the middle behind the massive line.
   The drive, however, was slowed by big tackles by Mike Fortin, brother of former Rebel Steve.
As soon as the Wildcats reached the Walpole five the Pride defense found another gear. On second and goal the quarterback pumped to pass, but was chased out of the pocket by Jake Ciavattone. He chased him into the waiting arms of Chris Whitmore, who took him down, and when Weymouth threw an illegal block at the Pride, they were pushed back to the 15.
   Kenny Uhlar fought through the line on the next play to take down a back with only a one-yard gain, despite having his facemask pulled. The call pushed Weymouth back more, to a second-and-29 situation.
   Weymouth went to the air on the next one but Colton Mitchell stepped in front for the interception, ending the threat.
   With Erik Jansen quarterbacking the offense and hitting Connor Moriarty with a pass, the Pride ran out the first-half clock. The backfield also got some big blocks from Mike St. Germaine.
   The second half started with Weymouth driving once more, but a pass on second and two was picked off by Cameron at midfield. Starting from Weymouth’s 45, Raftery ran left for six yards, and then took a pitch to the right, broke a tackle at the 30, and ran the ball 24 yards to the Wildcat 15.
   Unlike Weymouth, Walpole didn’t shoot itself in the foot in the red zone. An eight-yard Cameron carry, a Raftery sweep and another Cameron carry brought the ball to the two and from there, Raftery took it up the middle.
   “Kyle’s our heart and soul,” offered Hickey. “We could see it in him that he didn’t want to lose.”
Despite a bobbled hike, quarterback Cory Waite was able to work out a conversion pass with Bobby Ivatts and the Pride led, 7-0.
   The fourth quarter began with Weymouth again marching the ball downfield, getting to the Walpole 27 on fourth and three. Again they gave the ball to their biggest back, but Ivatts made the stop of the game, flattening him a yard short of the first down.
   Weymouth had two more possessions to try to even the score. The first ended with Cameron intercepting another pass, this time in the left flat.
   An 18-yard plunge through right guard by Raftery helped bring the ball deep into Weymouth territory, and by the time they had the ball they were back at their 21. The coup de grace came as the game wore down, with Whitmore sacking a beaten Weymouth signal caller.
   “At halftime,” offered Hickey, “We challenged them. We told them that five and five was a good record, but not a winning record. You want to show progress. Then they stepped up to the challenge.”
   The interesting thing about the team is that it was taken over by veteran coaches Hickey, Terry Hanley, John Collins, John Toti and T.K. Kelliher, who don’t even have anyone left in the program but just love working with the kids. George Sarnie, who moved up from the “C” level, is the only one with someone still playing.
   “That actually works well,” said Hickey. “We told the kids in the beginning that they each had a clean slate, it was a fresh start.”
   And an exciting finish.
   Congratulations to Erik Jansen, Jorda Escoban, Harrison Berkland, Nate Cameron, Billy Mitchell, Jobe Celentano, Connor Moriarty, Bobby Ivatts, Pat Demers, Cory Waite, Mike Fortin, Kyle Raftery, Will Krumpholz, Nick Cordopatri, Andrew elley, Chris Whitmore, Colton Mitchell, Keny Uhlar, Matt Ordway, Hunter Nemec, Robby Boush, Trevor Wassel, Mike St. Germaine, Kyle Robbins, Danny Aldrich, Adam “AJ” Quinlan and Jake Ciavattone for the best turnaround in Walpole Youth Football history.