ANDOVER – Ever since faltering to begin the year, Central Catholic has been firing on all cylinders.
Joshua Florence, Will Norris, and Jake Bartlett all collected multiple hits while Lukasz Rondeau threw five innings of shutout baseball as Central Catholic defeated Merrimack Valley Conference foe North Andover, 6-0, on Thursday night at Greater Lawrence Tech.
Since an opening day loss to Leominster, the Raiders (7-1) have won seven in a row. Their success has largely been behind the stellar starting pitching of Rondeau, Florence and Francisco Melendez.
“Lukasz’s command got sharper as the game went on,” Central Catholic coach John Sexton said. “We had to get him out after five because of the pitch count North Andover made him wrack up but our arms across the board have really pitched well.”
Central Catholic gave Rondeau all the run support needed in the bottom of the second. After a catcher’s interference to begin the inning, Tyler Normandie lined a double to right and Jeremy Delacruz laced an RBI single to put the hosts up 1-0. Moments later the Raiders added on as Bartlett hit a two-run double and Florence drilled an RBI triple to make it 4-0. Norris capped off the five-run frame with an RBI single.
“We’re gaining confidence and our lineup is starting to trust itself,” Sexton said. “We are having better at-bats just about across the board.”
Rondeau did not allow a hit outside the infield throughout his five innings of work. The Scarlet Knights had a pair of opportunities to score. In the fourth, two infield singles and an error loaded the bases but the Raiders turned a 4-6-3 double play to escape trouble. Then, in the sixth, North Andover put two on with two out when Jake Jackson grounded a single to right. Norris, however, fired a strike home to gun down the runner and end the threat.
