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North Andover watched a 4-3 lead become a 9-4 deficit in just a few swings in the sixth inning and fell 9-6 to Masconomet in the Division 2 North quarterfinals.

"In the tournament, you have to avoid the big inning," said North Andover coach Todd Dulin, whose Cape Ann League large quad-champs finish up at 16-6, with three of those losses to Masco.

North Andover just can't seem to solve Tewksbury. Three recent meetings have led to three agonizing defeats. The most recent, prior to yesterday, was a setback in the first round of last year's Division 2 North tourney.

For an effort like this, the North Andover High baseball team deserved more than just a quarter of a Cape Ann League large division championship.

The Knights, now 14-4 overall and 10-3 in the CAL, will settle for just that and a berth in tomorrow's first Lawrence Invitational Tournament semifinal (4 p.m.) against Tewksbury.

NORTH ANDOVER | What a way to win a championship.

After giving back leads of two and four runs, respectively, the Masconomet baseball team scratched across the go-ahead run on a botched suicide squeeze to pry a share of the Cape Ann League Large title from host North Andover yesterday, 7-6.

There was no sign, no call from the bench, not even a scouting report picked up at a recent walk-through.

North Andover High first baseman Gary Lunetta pulled off the hidden-ball trick for a key out against North Reading this week. The senior was pretty much on his own ... with a minor assist from pitcher Brian Meikle.

North Andover senior Gary Lunetta lent a scouting report on the Scarlet Knight lineup:

"Pitchers might get us the first time around, but usually the second time around we're going to hit him."

Mike Hashem made for plenty of boring afternoons on the diamond.

"Last year, it was easy just to sit and watch Hashem go out and strike out 18 guys in a game," admitted Brian Meikle, North Andover High senior and former teammate of the UConn freshman.

Pat Twomey knocked in all three Generals runs with a two-run single following by another run scoring single later in the game, but North Andover prevailed 12-3. Matt Greeke added a pair of hits and Dan Mulley doubled to lead H-W.

Pat Matvichuk's hard-hit grounder plated the walk-off run in the seventh inning to lift the undefeated Chieftains (4-0) over North Andover, 5-4. James Riordan shined with a complete game effort and didn't surrender an earned run as errors led to all of North Andovers scoring plays. If that wasn't enough, the senior's second inning grand slam accounted for the Chieftains other runs.

Brian Meikle improved to 2-0 on the year, pitching his second straight gem for North Andover, which edged Whittier, 2-0. Billy Della Rocca had a pair of hits for the Knights. Dillon Ryan blasted a two-run homer for the Wildcats.