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CommunityLegion reunion a really big hit
Past, present players produce plenty of power to pound A’s
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by MICHAEL REID
Calvert Legion’s D.J. Mascetti, left, and Matt Beck, right, wait to congratulate teammate Nick Sydnor after Sydnor’s grand slam.
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BOWIE — Calvert High School held a soccer reunion recently and Northern High School will have a soccer alumni game this Friday. Calvert American Legion Posts 85, 206, 220 and 274 had a reunion of sorts when past and present players suited up for the Bowie Player’s Association 19-U Mid-Atlantic regional Tournament last weekend at Blacksox Park in Bowie.
Because the tournament was a year older than the age restrictions on Legion play, former players suited up for Calvert.
And the reunion provided past and present players to not only reminisce about the SMAC, but also to talk smack.
Kyle Starr referred to D.J. Mascetti as MC Hammer, in reference to the former Hurricanes’ slightly baggy pants. And Matt Beck noted that former Huntingtown teammate Matt Baden had picked up a hat trick after Baden fanned three straight times in the tournament opener.
Former Hurricane Joey Kavanaugh, who will enter his sophomore season at Mount St. Mary’s University, said wearing county rival Northern’s-like red and blue jerseys was unfamiliar.
‘‘I know, it was a bit strange,” he said. ‘‘It took a little while to get used to it.”
Though there were plenty of memories and laughs being had on the bench, the players also provided plenty of offense.
Calvert scored 26 runs in two games on Saturday, only to fall 9-2 Sunday to the Easton Hurricanes in the quarterfinals. Eight of Easton’s runs were unearned.
‘‘We did everything but put the ball in the gaps,” Calvert coach Tom Sydnor said. ‘‘Everything that went right for us Saturday flipped [on Sunday].”
‘‘Unfortunately, we seemed to forget that the team has to play and field to support the pitcher the next day,” Sydnor said. ‘‘We wasted a determined effort by Brian Lusby, who was the same tough nosed pitcher we had seen all year. We let him down with the gloves, and did not hit when needed, leaving men on base frequently. It was very unfair for Brian to have to endure it, but the team and Brian learned from it, and will continue to improve.”
Calvert bats getA+ against A’s
Calvert opened the tournament with a bang Saturday when they shellacked the Maryland A’s 18-0. The game was called after four innings due to the mercy rule.
‘‘I think the patience today was just what we were looking for,” Sydnor said. ‘‘Every one of these kids who tagged the ball today was in there looking for their pitch. The count had to agree with them before they hit anything.”
‘‘We have a great squad and we hit the ball,” said Timmy Hull, who was 3 for 3 with two doubles, three runs scored and a team-high four RBIs. Hull is transferring to Salisbury University after spending his freshman campaign at Radford University. ‘‘That’s what we came here to do.”
Beck, who will attend Wor-Wic Community College in the fall, but plans to transfer to Salisbury in the spring, belted a triple and a double. Calvert sent 32 batters to the plate in four innings and slammed 10 extra-base hits. All but one starter collected at least one run batted in and seven of nine players scored at least one run.
‘‘We have a lot of kids from college here who can hit the ball hard,” he said.
Calvert was designated the visiting team and went to bat first.
It sent nine hitters to the plate and scored five runs.
Hull had the big hit of the inning, a two-run double, while Beck slammed an RBI triple. Starr added an RBI on a groundout and Hull later scored on an error.
The five-run lead gave Calvert starting pitcher Cory Altieri a comfortable cushion with which to work.
Altieri, a Bowie High School graduate who will attend Prince George’s Community College in a few weeks, was on loan from the Bowie Legion team after Sydnor called the team looking for an extra pitcher.
‘‘He was quiet and he was nervous,” Sydnor said. ‘‘He was pitching against a team for the first time and he wants to make a good impression. So I was actually glad we were the visiting team, because I wanted our bats to get a shot before he went out to the mound.”
Altieri fell behind 3-1 to A’s leadoff batter Ziggy Pyzik, but Pyzik hit a weak liner to Hull for the first out. After yielding a base hit, Valtieri recorded back-to-back strikeouts to escape the inning unscathed.
‘‘He was struggling on [Pyzik] and had a 3-1 pitch and it was a ball,” Sydnor said. ‘‘He reached out and put it in play so we could get an out. It settled Cory down.”
Valtieri went three innings and allowed two hits. He also struck out five in a 36-pitch outing. Brian Lusby came on to toss the fourth and surrendered a walk.
Calvert extended its lead in the third inning on Kavanaugh’s leadoff home run.
Chris Gaines walked and scored on an error and Tony Bowen later bashed a two-run homer as Calvert extended its lead to 9-0.
Calvert turned a romp into a rout when it sent 13 batters to the plate and pushed across nine runs in the top of the fourth. The big hit of the inning was a grand slam by Nick Sydnor.
‘‘Oh, it felt real good,” said Sydnor, who will be a sophomore at Stevenson University. ‘‘At the beginning of the game, my swing just didn’t feel right so I definitely needed that to boost my confidence.”
A short while later, a fan retrieved the ball and presented it to Sydnor in the dugout. Despite seven home runs this season in Legion ball and a two-homer game March 4 against Philadelphia Bible University, this was the first souvenir ball Sydnor has gotten.
‘‘It’s real nice [to get it back], because actually it’s the first one I’ve gotten back this year,”
Hull added a run-scoring double and an RBI single and Kavanaugh’s triple pushed across another run. Bowen drove in another with a base hit and Baden added a bases-loaded walk.
‘‘Once we started hitting the ball, we just kept going,” Mascetti said. ‘‘And we had great defense. It’s a good start.”
‘‘Bowen added: ‘‘We’ve had two, three weeks off from senior Legion, so I was surprised to see everyone come out with big bats and get it done.”
Calvert was 11 for 16 with runners in scoring position, while Maryland was 0 for 3. Calvert, who also took advantage of 12 walks, also stranded four base runners.
Hurler Herbert huge
Calvert improved its tournament record to 2-0 Saturday night with an 8-0 win over the Bronx Cyclones.
Former Huntingtown hurler Dustin Herbert turned in a perfect six-inning game and struck out 15.
‘‘Dustin Herbert's effort was an amazing performance,” Tom Sydnor said. ‘‘I have never seen someone so dialed in and focused. The Bronx third baseman said to me ... that he had never faced a pitcher as tough as Dustin was that night.
‘‘The Bronx bench was totally silent by the second inning –– they appeared to just be fascinated by the work Dustin was doing. In fact, they applauded their teammates for just fouling the ball off. The three batters who did not strike out were pleased that they put the ball in play. After the game, the Bronx coach could not say enough about what he had seen.”
