Drew and Massa play long ball at White Mountains

Published Date Written by Lloyd Jones

CONWAY — As the season reaches its midpoint the Kennett High baseball team finds itself ranked in the Top 10 in the Division III standings just two spots out of hosting a first round playoff game.

The Eagles, who hosted Laconia (5-2) on Wednesday (results not known as or press time) are 6-3 through nine games. Kennett picked up a 12-0 victory in Whitefield against host White Mountains on Monday. The victory came on the heels of a 13-1 setback on Friday at Sanborn.

"We didn't hit the ball down (in Kingston)," Bob Burns, Eagles' head coach, said. "It was a cold, blustery day and we only got three hits. Still, it was only a 3-1 game until the bottom of the sixth when things got away from us and they had the big (eight run) inning. The wheels sort of fell off and it turned out to be a long day. After the long bus ride down there we just didn't seem to get into it for whatever reason. We didn't strike out much, we hit some balls hard, but didn't play our best ball."

KHS got its offense in gear Monday for a regular-season sweep of White Mountains (1-6-1 in Division III). Nick Massa, who picked up the win on the mound, also helped his own cause with a long home run, a double and sacrifice fly while Josh Drew also dialed long distance with a three-run homer and a run-scoring single. Scott Conner had three hits on the afternoon while Austin Weber had a pair including a double.

Kennett led 2-0 after three innings, but tacked on sixth in the fourth inning and four more in the sixth frame to cruise to victory. Massa worked the first four innings to improve to 5-0.

"We played much better on Monday," Burns said. "We got good pitching, lots of hitting and were flawless in the field."

The Eagles are scheduled to close out the week on Friday with a trip to arch-rival Kingswood (3-5) for a 4 p.m. game, weather-permitting. Kennett won the first meeting this season (April 18) between the two clubs in Redstone 7-2.