East Boston Knights Baseball
Shawn Carlson no-hits Braves
The Knights had another great week of baseball capped off with a no no by Andover’s own Shawn Carlson vs the Brighton Braves Wednesday night at Rogers Park in Brighton. Carlson carried a perfect game into the 6th inning before walking Ted Tracey with 2 outs. Carlson preserved the no hitter by inducing cleanup hitter and starting pitcher Mike Smith to hit a grounder to second base to end the game. Both pitchers were on their game as the Knights went on to win the game 1 – 0. Carlson (3-0) added 12 punch outs on the knight and now leads the Yawkey League with 24 K’s on the young season. The Knights moved their win streak to 7 games with the win. “I don’t think the guys knew what was going on until late in the game” said manager Eric Bellavia. “Guys were kind of wondering why he was still in the game as the plan was to keep his pitch count down” “Catcher Marty Dunlap called an impeccable game on top on Carlson’s performance. Another great team victory” The Knights also faced The Somerville Alibrandis on Friday at “The Stadium” with pitcher Jeff Allison carrying a no hitter of his own into the 5th inning. In total the Knights went 11 1/3 innings of no hit baseball and beat the defending champs 4 to 2 to run the winning streak to 8. Unfortunately the streak was ended by the Stoneham Sabers on Sunday with a 4 to 0 defeat. “Stoneham has a great team and a great equalizer with their home field” quipped the manager Bellavia. Recreation Park often referred to as “The Beach” known for its flat mound and its sandy infield and batters box. “It makes things difficult for opposing teams defensively and running the bases. It’s almost as if you are running at the beach.” Said the manager. That was evident as the Knights committed 2 errors and had 2 runners thrown out on the base paths. The Knights now stand at 8 – 1 and on top of the Yawkey League for now.
CLUBHOUSE NOTES: Shawn Carlson’s no hitter was the 2nd in franchise history. The last one was thrown by a 17 year old rookie by the name of Sean Hannon in 2011. The no hit club now has 2 members both named Sean (Sean Hannon & Shawn Carlson)……..Catcher Marty Dunlap is 2nd in the YBL with a .556 average……Mike Oliveira is 2nd in the YBL in RBI with 10…..Shawn Carlson leads the YBL with victories (3-0) ERA (0.00) K’s (24) and WHIP (.158)….The Knights lead the YBL in ERA (1.38) and Fielding percentage (.975) and have committed the least errors (6 in 9 games)…The Knights have signed pitcher Tyler Ferdinand, catcher Riley MaGee and IF Dan Cronin for the rest of the season.
GAME RECAPS: East Boston 1 Braves 0
Pitchers duel at Rogers Park. Shawn Carlson took the ball for the Knights against Mike Smith and neither pitcher disappointed. They kept hitters off balance all night combining for 21 strikeouts. The Knights had base runners on all game but Mike Smith beared down to hold the Knights to one run. In the 2nd inning Eduardo Colemanares scorched a double and advanced on a passed ball. Mike Oliveira hit a sac fly to cf that scored Colemanares and provide Shawn Carlson and the Knights all the offense they needed tonight. Carlson took a perfect game into the 6th losing it with a walk with 1 out. With 2 outs in the 7th Carlson got Stephen Robb to strikeout looking for his 12th K and preserve his no-hitter.
East Boston 4 Somerville 2
The Alibrandis traveled to Eastie to face off against the Knights at “The Stadium” on a chilly Friday night. Jeff Allison took the bump for EBK matching up against Sean Sullivan for big red. The Knights drew first blood as Marty Dunlap grounded out to 2B to score Kyle Connors after he singled and stole second to lead off the game. The Knights would push across 3 more in the 3rd with 3 consecutive singles to load the bases with no out. Dunlap and Polanco would have singles to drive in 2 runs along with a Vic LeBron fielders choice to take a 4 – 0 lead. Jeff Allison was sharp all knight for the Knights carrying a no hitter into the 5th inning before an Anthony Perry single to break it up. That hit broke an 11 1/3 no hit inning streak that spanned over 3 games for EBK. A Juan Parra 2 run HR in the 6th made things interesting but the Knights held on for the 4 – 2 victory.
Upcoming games:
Tuesday June 9th vs the South Boston Saints at Ronan Park at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday June 10th vs the Brighton Braves at Ronan Park at 7:30 p.m.
Monday June 15th vs the Malden Maddogs at East Boston Stadium at 8 p.m.
As always you can follow the Knights at:
www.eastbostonknights.com,
www.yawkeybaseball.com
www.facebook.com/knightsbaseballclub
City to start working on the Rockies
By John Lynds
Twenty five years ago a patch of vacant city owned property along Marginal Street was slated to be developed into housing but the community joined together to lobby officials for an Urban Wild to be developed on the site.
Over the years the land behind the Samuel Adams School known locally as the Rockies was transformed by the city through a partnership with the Jeffries Point community into a community garden, orchard and Urban Wild.
However, in the past few years the property has been unkempt, slightly unwelcoming and problems with a crumbling retaining wall have made it a bit dangerous.
The City’s Director of Urban Wild Development Paul Sutton said Monday at a Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association meeting that funds have been earmarked to begin an overhaul of the Rockies.
“The community did a lot of work over the years to champion this site,” said Sutton. “With all the other greenspaces in East Boston coming together this has been the missing link.”
Sutton said the Parks Department has been able to secure capital funding, several grants like an orchid restoration grant and Beautify Boston grant that can piggyback on some other funding sources to begin a redevelopment of the Rockies.
“The School Department is planing to fix the wall behind the (Samuel) Adams School to make the site more appealing and more attractive,” said Sutton. “Some trees have been damaged so the School Department will have to replace those. Once they are done with their work we can get in there and start looking at a design plan.”
Sutton said the city wants to improve access to the site but make minimal changes.
“What we heard from the community is that they want some improvements but balance those improvements with keeping the site more ‘wild’,” he said.
Sutton said at the last meeting the Parks Department was thinking of adding shrubs along Marginal Street, more shade trees and benches. That plan would have transformed the untamed Urban Wild into a more beautifully landscaped park that welcomes more residents to interact with the space by adding paths and benches.
“Residents wanted to see the wall fixed, fencing around the park and the retaining wall near the Adams fixed but as far as benches and pathways we got some push back and residents want to keep it more of a urban orchid than a traditional park,” said Sutton.
Sutton said he will come back to the community after the retaining wall is fixed so the community and city can start working on some design plans and ideas.
Sutton also said that the city has contracted a company that will regularly maintain the park with mowing and pruning of shrubs and trees.
“The first phase will be to fix the retaining wall and begin regular upkeep and from there will start to transform the space,” he said.