NEWBURYPORT — Evan Luekens isn’t afraid to show his emotions on the mound.
After a big strikeout, or an inning-ending popup to escape a jam, it’s become commonplace to see the Newburyport junior throw an emphatic fist pump, and yell towards his teammates in the dugout to get them fired up. It’s never anything directed at the opponent, but it certainly makes clear how much passion for the game the right-hander plays with.
For his teammates, Luekens is an easy guy to get behind.
And even though he’s still just a junior, he’s been forced to step up as a leader for the Clippers this spring.
Luekens is the lone starter back from last year’s team, and senior reliever Brayden Johnson is really the only other guy who threw extended innings a year ago. Three-sport All-Star Jack Sullivan can pitch, but at the start of the season the Clippers needed him at shortstop, and really couldn’t risk moving him to the mound. So what was the team left with?
Ryan Sanchez: New to varsity.
Jack Mercier: New to varsity.
Sean Estabrook: Sophomore, new to varsity.
Ray Arcand: Sophomore, new to varsity.
Jack Oreal: Freshman.
Are you starting to see the potential concerns with this Newburyport staff?
“Me and Brayden Johnson, we tried to combine to take over coming into the year,” said Luekens, following another dominant outing in a 5-1 win over Essex Tech on Tuesday. “We both got some good experience last year, so it’s been good. and I think in a few years, as the younger guys keep getting better, they’re going to be really good. I’ve tried to mentor them and help out when I can.”
But even amidst all of the uncertainty, there’s be Luekens.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, he carried a 2-2 record, a 2.19 ERA and an area-high 40 strikeouts in 32.0 innings pitched. and it basically was more of the same on a beautiful day at Pettingell Park, after Luekens scattered just three hits over five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts before being pulled to keep his pitch count down.
Now, things have gotten a lot better since the start of the season.
Those young guys, like Arcand, Estabrook and Oreal, they’ve developed into reliable arms, as Newburyport (11-5) has ripped off 9 wins over its last 10 games. Then with the return of fellow shortstop Milo Freundlich, it’s allowed the Clippers to both move Sullivan to the outfield, and also take the mound once a week — to terrific results. Sullivan currently owns a 2-1 record with a minuscule 0.53 ERA, striking out 17 in 13.1 innings pitched. “I don’t like piecing things together, I like having guys pitch once a week and that’s it,” said Newburyport coach Ron Jordon. “At a college, it’s Friday-Saturday-Sunday, well here it’s Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. So Evan’s been our Tuesday guy this year. That’s the way we do it. The pitching has been insane.”
Through it all, Luekens has been there.
Once every week, the Clippers know they have an excellent chance to win with him on the mound.
“It’s always good when your team trusts in you and has a lot of confidence in you,” said Luekens. “I got a lot bigger over the offseason so I’m throwing harder this year for sure. I was probably around the low-80s coming into the year, and am still feeling good.”
Added Jordon: “The way our pitching has been, we can play with anybody.”
Newburyport 5, Essex Tech 1
Essex Tech (1): Parsons ss 4-1-2, Tsoutsouras p 2-0-0, Waterman 3b 3-0-2, Greenfield dh 3-0-2, Skory rf 3-0-0, Taylor lf 3-0-0, Brown c 3-0-0, Freeny cf/p 3-0-0, Nicoli 2b/cf 3-0-0, Ventura 2b 0-0-0. Totals 27-1-6
Newburyport (5): Stick 2b 2-2-1, DeVivo cf 3-0-0, Sullivan lf 3-1-1, Cowles 3b 3-1-2, Mercier rf 1-1-0, Sanchez sh 3-0-0, Cook c 2-0-0, Garbarino ph 1-0-0, Arcand 1b 2-0-1, Perron ph 1-0-0, Freundlich ss 2-0-0, Mone ss 1-0-0, Luekens p 0-0-0, Johnson p 0-0-0. Totals 24-5-5
RBI: N — Cowles 2, Sulivan; ET — Greenfield
WP: Luekens; LP: Freeny
Essex Tech (1-15) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1
Newburyport (11-5): 3 0 0 0 2 0 x — 5