Earlier this month against Saugus, Gloucester’s Nico Alves connected for a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning to send his team to a narrow victory.
Monday morning against Northeastern Conference rival Beverly, the sophomore standout was at it again.
In a game in which the Fishermen admittedly didn’t play their best ball until late in the contest, Alves stepped up to the plate in a big spot and delivered with another walk-off bash. This time it was a base hit up the left side of the field to send home the winning run (Charlie Amero) for a 4-3 decision.
He may just be a second-year varsity player, but Alves has proven to possess the ever-so-rare clutch gene early in his career.
“The energy had just switched, the momentum changed,” said Alves, his team trailing Beverly 3-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before rallying for the win. “But a new pitcher came in (for Beverly), the boys started hitting, we capitalized on some errors and when I got up (to the plate) I just saw what I saw, got my pitch and did what I needed to do. It was a good win for us.”
Cade Cooper also came up huge, helping ignite the Gloucester offense in the sixth inning by connecting for a base hit to knot the score at 3-3. The Fishermen then came up with some decisive defensive plays, including a big time throw to second base from sophomore catcher Trey Marrone to catch a runner stealing in the seventh.
Starting pitcher Giacomo Martell was solid on the mound to keep his team in it, before Brayden Francis came in for the final two innings to shut the door and secure the win.
With the victory, Gloucester remained perfect on the season at 7-0 and once again proved that it can win games in a myriad of ways. The Fishermen have their share of convincing triumphs (i.e. an 8-0 drubbing of Haverhill, a 6-1 decision at Salem and a 17-4 blowout over Northeast Metro Tech), but have also eked out competitive clashes against Saugus (1-0), Swampscott (4-1) and of course Beverly.
“We’ve been grinding in practice, really working hard,” said Alves. “We’re just coming out hot, we got our speeches going, and we just have to stay the course. Everybody’s doing their thing and once we click together fully, once we get 100 percent together we’re going to be hard to beat.
“We’re not going to get too cocky,” he added. “We’re just focused on playing our game. We have another big game (Wednesday) against Winthrop, Brayden (Francis) is on the bump and he’s going to deal, throw strikes, we’ll make plays from the field and try to back him up at the plate.”
It’s still early, but Gloucester appears to have what it takes to make a serious postseason run come late May/early June. With nearly everybody back from last year’s squad that went 12-10, aspirations are understandably high.
Between Martell, Francis and Alves on the mound — all of whom have been stellar thus far — and consistent contributions at the plate from those three as well as the likes of Jaylen Severino, Nolan Aiello, Lukas Albano, Cooper, Amero and others, it’s a well balanced lineup capable of making noise regardless of the opponent.
After a strong winter season between the pipes for the Fishermen boys hockey team, Marrone has also been stellar behind the plate: “He had a great pick off at first base (against Beverly) and is always grinding; he’s a great catcher,” says Alves. The Gloucester defense as a whole has been able to make routine plays look exactly that while limiting the errors in the early goings, too.
“We only lost three seniors and I think only one of them started (last year) so the team is (virtually) the same,” added Alves. “We have great chemistry and we knew we could come into the season hot. We’re rolling right now and don’t plan on stopping.”
Wednesday’s clash with Winthrop is slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch at Nate Ross field. The Fishermen will then travel to Springfield Central for a non-league bout on Friday (4 p.m.) before a two-game slate against Masconomet and Salem next week.