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AUBURN, Mass. – The Auburn Senior League All-Stars (15- and 16-year-olds) are representing Massachusetts quite well in the Senior League Eastern Regional Tournament this week in New Jersey.
Auburn starting pitcher Tyler Lamonda threw a no-hitter in the team’s 3-0 victory against South Vineland, N.J. on Saturday night, and then Auburn’s bats exploded in the team’s 20-10 win on Monday morning against West Deptford, N.J.
Auburn, which is undefeated in the week-long tournament, is now two wins away from winning the championship.
“We’ll need the pitching and bats to stay hot,” said Manager Dalton Goodrich. “We’re well balanced on pitching, offense and defense. We got it all.”
On Saturday night, Auburn faced South Vineland, which had won 23 of its last 24 games in regional play. But Lamonda shut down the stiff competition on the way to a no-hitter, the third no-hitter in 22 years of regional play in the New Jersey tourney.
“I didn’t think that [a no-hitter] could happen against this team,” Lamonda said. “I was pretty shocked. Those kids are really good. I was hoping to give up one or two runs, but my catcher called a great game, and I was able to shut them down.”
Lamonda said he kept the New Jersey squad off balance with his repertoire of pitches; he throws an 80-85 mph fastball, in addition to a curveball, slider and changeup.
He finished the no-hitter on the 95th pitch of the night, which is the maximum allowed under the pitch count rules. He walked two and worked around four errors by the defense.
Then, in Monday’s victory over West Deptford, Auburn’s batters erupted for 20 runs. Auburn finished strong, scoring 15 runs in the last two innings.
Auburn was trailing 8-5 before batting in the top of the sixth inning, but they scored eight runs in the inning to go ahead 13-8. Ryan Kozlowski and Drew Goodrich each had two-run singles in the frame.
In the seventh inning, Auburn plated seven more runs to secure the win. Joe Fahey and Lincoln Bois paced Auburn’s 18-hit attack with four hits apiece.
Auburn will face Upper Moreland, Pa. in Tuesday’s battle of unbeaten teams. The Daily Voice will have updates throughout the week-long tournament.
Auburn’s 13 players also play baseball for Auburn High School. They are Bois, Fahey, Goodrich, Kozlowski, Lamonda, Ryan Angelico, Joshua Boucher, Tyler Desjardins, Matt Kapulka, Ryan Mulcahy, Matthew Nelson, Kyle Quitadamo and DJ Scavone.
The team’s manager is Goodrich and the two coaches are Rich Kapulka and Dan Scavone.
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