Pitching leads Flames to senior Ruth playoff s
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Marlborough - It's not how you start that matters, it's how you finish. That timetested sports adage wasn't trotted out by Marlborough Senior Babe Ruth coach Al MacQuarrie - but it could have been.

"We got off to a tough start, getting roughed up by Franklin, 13-1, right out of the gate with our best pitcher on the mound," Mac- Quarrie said. "But give these guys credit, they turned it around pretty quick."

The Flames did just that, winning three of their next four, a spurt that ignited a mid-season run of eight wins in nine games. Those two hot streaks allowed the team to blaze its way to a high-water mark of 11-5 at that point, on the way to a 12-7 regular season and 13-9 overall finish.

"We got great pitching all season," MacQuarrie said. "It was the key to our success."

The statistics certainly back up the coach's assessment - the team finished with a minuscule 1.79 earned-run average.

Leading the way was Brian Vital, who suff ered the loss to Franklin in the opener and then didn't lose for the rest of the season. The Grafton product who will be a sophomore at Medaille College in Buff alo, N.Y., finished with a 4-1 record. He earned the Flames' lone playoff win with a nineinning, 155-pitch, twoearned runs-allowed eff ort against powerful Sudbury.

"He was immense, dominant," MacQuarrie said.

Matt Magazine, who would have been considered the ace of any other squad he played on, had a tremendous season, too, finishing with a 4-1 mark as well.

"He had a solid spring at Assabet Valley and he carried that right over to our season," MacQuarrie said. "He was a big key to our run to the playoff s."

Catcher Julio Zayas was the Flames' main presence at the plate and behind it as well. He was among the team leaders in all the major off ensive categories and also threw out almost 70 percent of would-be base stealers.

"Julio was our quiet leader," MacQuarrie said. "He had only one passed ball all year and came through for us with a ton of clutch hits."

Other off ensive highlights were turned in by Tyler Fitzmaurice, Ryan MacQuarrie, Jeff Levine and Tim Sciore.

Fitzmaurice, also from Grafton, was the Flames' No. 5 hitter, finishing the season with a .316 batting average. Ryan MacQuarrie, the coach's oldest son, led the team in stolen bases. Levine's hot bat sparked the bottom of the order and served as a table-setter for the guys at the top of the lineup. Sciore delivered several timely hits and prevented some runs with his play in the outfield.

Marlborough will have a diff erent look next season, as Vital, Magazine, Colin Connors - the team's closer - and several position players will all be too old to play.

Al MacQuarrie's returning nucleus will be led by Jeff MacQuarrie, his younger son, who played third base this season, getting stronger as the year went along.

The pitching staff next season should be anchored by Andy Mayo, Adam Gowaski and Vitkor Ryan.