Norwood coach Pete Wall (22) has a chat with pitcher Joe Montesano and catcher Todd Newman last night in the fourth inning.
Joe Montesano dusted off his glove, high-fived his teammates, and headed for the bench knowing his job was done, leaving the rest of the work to pinch-hitter Scott Ivens.
With the game locked in a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the ninth inning, Scott Ivens came through with a powerful shot to center field, driving in Jeff Mahoney to give Norwood a thrilling 3-2 victory over Lowell at Balch School Field in the opening game of their best-of-three series. The winner of the series advanced directly to the state finals at Braintree, earning a valuable first-round bye.
Joe Montesano, who had previously pitched seven strong innings in a 3-2 opening-round win over Andover, delivered another stellar performance, scattering nine hits, striking out four, and walking only two over nine complete innings. The pitching was there for us, praised Norwood coach Pete Wall. Montesano did a fabulous job and he’s still only going to be a sophomore. Noting that much of his roster came straight from his hard-hitting Norwood High School squad, Pete Wall added, Both teams played great baseball. What won it for us is that we’ve been here before … in Legion and high school. That had a lot to do with it. It really made the difference.
After a three-inning pitching duel between Joe Montesano and Lowell southpaw Jamie McCabe, Norwood struck first when Bill Gurly hit a double to knock in Tim Coyle, who had led off with a double. Lowell broke onto the scoreboard in the sixth when Ken Martin walked, stole second, and scored on Brian Martin’s single. In the seventh, Lowell threatened with the bases loaded and one out, but Marc Dubois grounded into a crucial inning-ending double play turned by Joe Montesano. Relief pitcher Jim Maybury took over for Lowell in the bottom of the seventh, walking Joe Montesano and Bill Gurly with the bases loaded to force home Tim Coyle for a 2-1 edge. Although Lowell tied the game 2-2 in the top of the ninth on a fluke error by Joe Montesano off Dave Moore‘s chopper, Scott Ivens immediately sealed the walk-off win in the bottom frame. Norwood traveled to Lowell’s Alumni Field for Game 2, holding a 1-0 series lead. (Action photograph captured by Gary Higgins).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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