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After ninth hitter Connor Manning reached for the third time of the game on a two-base throwing error, Nate Frongillo roped a run-scoring to right field to deliver Whittier a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over St. Mary's of Lynn for the Division 3 North title.

Georgetown baseball was the EMass Division 4 champion last year but it won’t repeat this spring. The Royals ran into a hot Lowell Catholic pitcher, Liam Coughlin, and dropped their Division 4 North semifinal 3-1 yesterday at Fraser Field in Lynn. Junior pitcher Pat Slack started for Georgetown and went 4.0 innings, allowing just one run. Dave Ingraham relieved Slack but struggled with his control. “We made a pitching change to change up some speeds (between the two pitchers),” Georgetown coach Justin Spurr said. “It had been successful all year but for some reason Dave wasn’t adjusting to the mound where his foot was landing.” Ingraham allowed two runs in the fifth. Freshman Mike Goddu accounted for the Royals’ lone run, stroking an RBI single to right field in the second inning. It gave Georgetown a 1-0 lead. “I’m thrilled with the year,” Spurr said. “We had a great group of kids. We had five all-league players. “We had some strikeouts in key situations today,” Spurr added about his offense.

LYNN - Whittier starting pitcher Andrew Wells got into more than a few difficult situations against Newburyport yesterday.
The Clippers loaded the bases against Wells with one out or fewer in three different innings. They put the leadoff hitter on against the Wildcats ace in six different innings.
But Wells got outs when he needed them the most.
The Whittier ace pitched a complete game and allowed just two runs, one earned, on seven hits and three walks (one intentional) while striking out five.
Whittier won 6-2 over Newburyport to advance to the Division 3 North title game against St. Mary's on Saturday at LeLacheur Park in Lowell.
"There's a reason why he's the player he is," Whittier catcher Anthony Licciardello said about Wells. "He's a great competitor. He doesn't like to get beat. And he just gets the job down every time he's on the mound."
Whittier coach Joe Boland added about Wells: "That's just the type of kid he is. ... He was actually a freshmen when we went to Lowell. He played on that team. He was the starting third baseman. So he and (Nate) Frongillo and Licciardello have all been with us (since then). They didn't want to finish it until we got back to Lowell. Let's hope we have some luck in Lowell."
Licciardello calls all of Wells' pitches. He and Wells mixed up the fastball, curveball and slider well.
"We were trying to mix it up because we knew Newburyport can hit the fastball, but they were having a little trouble hitting the offspeed stuff," Licciardello said.
Wells has a lot of movement even on his fastball because he throws a two-seamer, a pitch that runs to the arm-side of the pitcher.
"I've been getting through them (tough innings) all year," Wells said. "You've just got to keep battling because if you give up, you're teams going to let up. As a senior, you've got to lead it."
Newburyport had a 1-0 edge after a half inning, but Whittier scored three times in the bottom of the first inning.
"We've been having great, timely hitting all season," Wells said. "And that's what it's been in the postseason. We've been trying to stay aggressive, take bases when we can, jump on the fastball."
Whittier's Ralph Francesconi stroked a big two-run double in the first inning.
"The other pitcher was good," Francesconi said about Newburyport starter Connor MacRae. "He had a little bit of control problems but he started to find his groove."

Whittier's baseball team was on the road against a higher seed, but that didn't bother its hitters in an 11-3 rout of Arlington Catholic. Led by Alex LoGuidice 3 for 4, 3 runs), the first three batters combined for seven hits and six runs scored and No. 3 batter Anthony Licciardello drove in four runs. Leadoff man Nate Frongillo scored three times. Devan Doucette went the distance for the win.

Dan Burrows had three hits, and Matt Burns, Nick Comei, J.t. Ruth and Pat Yale all had a pair of hits apiece but it wasn't enough as Haverhill bowed out to Medford in the Division 1 North first-rounder, 11-7.