NEWBURYPORT — There was no way Jack Oreal was coming out.
Even though his Newburyport baseball team hadn’t played in five days, and there were plenty of fresh arms who could have gotten three outs, this was his game to either win or lose. So with the Clippers trying to close out a 1-0 lead against rival Triton on a chilly Tuesday afternoon, Oreal jogged back out of the dugout and took the mound for the top of the seventh inning. And even after a leadoff single by Triton’s Noah Collins, there was still no panic.
Because here is what followed.
–A weak flyout to center field.
–A weak flyout to right field.
–A strike-3 looking on a fastball painted on the outside corner.
And with that final pitch to record his seventh strikeout of the game, Oreal had finished up the complete-game shutout to lead Newburyport to a 1-0 victory. The returning Daily News All-Star relied on his longtime catcher, Nick Garbarino, to call a great game, and with the win, the Clippers (3-3) have moved back to .500 on the young season.
“Jack and Nick Garbarino, his catcher, have a great bond,” said Newburyport coach Jed Beauparlant, the longtime boys hockey assistant coach who took over the baseball team this spring.
“He’s been his catcher for 10 years, since Little League. So the approaches are there, Nick called a great game back there today, and Jack trusted him and threw strikes. Then we had the defense behind him. But coming into the year we knew what Jack was going to give us, and that’s some solid innings. He put the team on his back today when we needed him.”
It’s not like it was anything too overpowering from Oreal.
The junior just pitched to his spots, scattered six hits on the day, and relied on some excellent defense behind him. In particular, shortstop Tim DeGraves made two excellent plays to get the Clippers out of jams. One ended the top of the third inning when Triton had a bases-loaded, one-out spot, and the other ultimately ended the sixth when the Vikings had pushed a runner to third with only one out again.
Fellow sophomore Tommy Gagnon played a clean third base as did Jackson LaCava at second, center fielder Parker Johnson made a pair of sliding catches, and senior captain Ray Arcand made a couple of nice picks at first base. Oreal didn’t walk anybody and the Clippers didn’t make any errors, which really did prove to be the difference.
Because a walk and an error led to the lone run of the game.
“That’s been our motto since Day 1: pitching and defense,” said Beauparlant. “We work on it all the time. We do a lot of work on defensive situations, and the left side of our infield today, Tommy Gagnon and Timmy DeGraves, were as solid as you can get. That’s been our strength so far this year, our defense.”
To lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, Bennett Beaulier got hit by a pitch and ended up stealing second. LaCava sacrificed him over to third, and Gagnon also laid down a bunt to try and score him. It was fielded cleanly and the runner was looked back to third, but the subsequent throw went over the first baseman’s head, and allowed the run to score.
“That’s part of the inexperience,” said Triton coach Kyle Priest. “We have a lot of young kids who are getting their feet wet. We didn’t execute, and part of the learning experience is losing a 1-0 game to Newburyport and eating that. But then the next time we have the chance to execute, hopefully we have a better approach.”
And even in defeat, Kellan Haley tossed a great game for Triton (3-4).
The sophomore has embraced the role of being the team’s top pitcher this year, and on Tuesday he tossed six strong innings with five punchouts while his lone run was unearned. Gavin Fraser — who is commited to JUCO powerhouse Northern Essex — crushed a two-out double off the fence in left field in the first inning, and Wyatt Allen went 2-for-3 out of the No. 2 spot in the order. It also needs to be noted that besides going 1-for-3, Collins also threw out two baserunners from his right field spot — one at home plate that would have made it a 2-0 game.
But the Vikings couldn’t find the big hit to get a run.
“(Haley) was awesome,” said Priest of his pitcher. “He threw a little bit last year, but more out of a relief role just to get him the work. But his velo has jumped up, he commands the baseball and throw strikes. I made it known to him early that he’s going to have this role. Whenever he’s eligible he’s going, and he accepted it, he wants it, and he’s a tough kid.
“I’m happy that we have him. He’s going to be awesome.”
Newburyport 1, Triton 0
Triton (3-4): 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Newburyport (3-3): 0 0 0 1 0 0 x — 1
Triton (0): Genaro Carrillo 3b 3-0-1, Wyatt Allen cf 3-0-2, Gavin Fraser ss 3-0-1, Sam Harding c 3-0-0, Kellan Haley p 3-0-0, Noah Collins rf 3-0-1, Carson Rumph 2b 3-0-0, Caleb Murray 1b 3-0-0, Adrian Meza Pina lf 3-0-1. Totals: 27-0-6
Newburyport (1): Parker Johnson cf 3-0-1, Jack Oreal p 2-0-0, Timmy DeGraves ss 3-0-1, Ray Arcand 1b 3-0-2, Nick Garbarino c 3-0-0, Bennett Beaulier dh 2-1-1, Jackson LaCava 2b 1-0-1, Tommy Gagnon 3b 3-0-0, Matthew Zappala rf 1-0-0. Totals: 21-1-6
RBI: None
WP: Oreal (7 IP, 0 ER, 7 Ks); LP: Haley (6 IP, 0 ER, 5 Ks)