Tim Kiely's perfect game for the Trinity College baseball team this past weekend was the first in the Bantams' 139-year history.
The 21-year-old junior right-hander from Swampscott had twice before flirted with perfection: once as a 12-year-old on a traveling team, and another against Northeastern Conference rival Gloucester in high school while at Swampscott High. He had to settle for no-hitters each time.
"One runner reached in both of those games on an error, both in the late innings," Kiely said, still collecting kudos for his 4-0 masterpiece over Tufts in Hartford, Conn.
"I played for Jeff Blydell on that traveling team. We were all Little League ages and we wore Nahant uniforms. It was a summer league game, but we played in Lynn and it was after the (Williamsport Little League) All-Star tournament," he added.
His recollection about Nahant was odd because of the connection it had to his masterpiece.
Trinity shortstop Tom DiBenedetto made the defensive play of the contest, leaping to snag a line drive to preserve the perfect game in the sixth inning. The liner had double written all over it. DiBenedetto - a summer resident of Nahant who resides in Fort Myers, Fla. in the winter - is the son of one of the Red Sox' minority owners.
Kiely went to a three-ball count only once. When he did, Tufts' Brian McDavitt, a kid from Worcester, grounded to DiBenedetto for the final out.
"Brian and I became good friends when we played for Pittsfield in the New England Collegiate League two years ago. We lived in the same house. But there was no interaction when he came up," said Kiely, who finished the game with nine strikeouts. "Brian was the only guy I was nervous about the whole day. I said to myself, it would be a shame to lose it on the last batter."
"When DiBenedette made that great play, it was huge. I thought at that point (the sixth) if he can make a play like that, then I have a shot at this."
It was the 11th perfect game in Division 3 history and the 13th no-hitter in Trinity annals.
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One-time Beverly distance running ace Brenna McNiff reaped the harvest of her family's move to Jupiter, Fla. A senior at The Benjamin School who scored 760 and 770 on her college boards, McNiff has been accepted at Duke, Boston College, Notre Dame and Virginia. McNiff was also accepted and offered a scholarship at Vermont. She's making her final visit this weekend to Notre Dame, then will make a decision. The 17-year-old will likely make a choice between Duke and BC.
The 21-year-old junior right-hander from Swampscott had twice before flirted with perfection: once as a 12-year-old on a traveling team, and another against Northeastern Conference rival Gloucester in high school while at Swampscott High. He had to settle for no-hitters each time.
"One runner reached in both of those games on an error, both in the late innings," Kiely said, still collecting kudos for his 4-0 masterpiece over Tufts in Hartford, Conn.
"I played for Jeff Blydell on that traveling team. We were all Little League ages and we wore Nahant uniforms. It was a summer league game, but we played in Lynn and it was after the (Williamsport Little League) All-Star tournament," he added.
His recollection about Nahant was odd because of the connection it had to his masterpiece.
Trinity shortstop Tom DiBenedetto made the defensive play of the contest, leaping to snag a line drive to preserve the perfect game in the sixth inning. The liner had double written all over it. DiBenedetto - a summer resident of Nahant who resides in Fort Myers, Fla. in the winter - is the son of one of the Red Sox' minority owners.
Kiely went to a three-ball count only once. When he did, Tufts' Brian McDavitt, a kid from Worcester, grounded to DiBenedetto for the final out.
"Brian and I became good friends when we played for Pittsfield in the New England Collegiate League two years ago. We lived in the same house. But there was no interaction when he came up," said Kiely, who finished the game with nine strikeouts. "Brian was the only guy I was nervous about the whole day. I said to myself, it would be a shame to lose it on the last batter."
"When DiBenedette made that great play, it was huge. I thought at that point (the sixth) if he can make a play like that, then I have a shot at this."
It was the 11th perfect game in Division 3 history and the 13th no-hitter in Trinity annals.
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One-time Beverly distance running ace Brenna McNiff reaped the harvest of her family's move to Jupiter, Fla. A senior at The Benjamin School who scored 760 and 770 on her college boards, McNiff has been accepted at Duke, Boston College, Notre Dame and Virginia. McNiff was also accepted and offered a scholarship at Vermont. She's making her final visit this weekend to Notre Dame, then will make a decision. The 17-year-old will likely make a choice between Duke and BC.
She once again was All-County and has been nominated for the Palm Beach County Student-Athlete award. She's a finalist among 12 from a field of 300 nominees.
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Pingree's star female hockey player, sophomore Kaitlin Spurling of Byfield, a veritable scoring machine with 47 goals and 23 assists this past season, is transferring to Noble & Greenough School. She had her biggest game against Winsor this winter, scoring four goals and three assists.
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Marblehead is also losing a gem of a female athlete in Samantha (Sam) Weinstein, who has decided to transfer to Deerfield Academy and will repeat her junior year there.
Weinstein piled up 117 career points (beginning as an eighth grader) to become the all-time scorer in MHS girls' hockey history. She was also MVP of the Northeastern Conference in girls lacrosse, accounting for 61 goals as a midfielder, and was a three-year regular as the goalie on the girls' soccer team.
"Marblehead High is a great place; I loved it there," Weinstein said. "I just found a better opportunity to play at the next level."
She was an NEC All-Star in all three sports, a hockey captain two years ago, and a Salem News All-Star in both girls hockey and lacrosse.
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One of Beverly's senior hockey captains, winger Jake Konaxis, a National Honor Society member with a 3.7 GPA, has decided on Babson College. He will be well remembered for his game-winning penalty shot to beat the defending state champs from Gloucester, 3-2, in this year's season opener.
His sister Rachel, who has close to 80 points in two years with the Beverly girls hockey team, still has her senior season remaining and will serve as captain for the third straight year next winter. She was the top scorer last season and culminated a banner year by winning two Bruins' tickets in a raffle at the team's postseason dinner.
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Rick Gardella of Lawrence, North Shore Tech's defensive coordinator under Paul Worth, is among seven finalists from an original field of 21 candidates for the Bulldogs' football job.
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Mark Kulakowski, a former Bishop Fenwick and UMass Dartmouth football standout and the newly-appointed MIAA North softball director, is an applicant for the athletic director post at Matignon. Kulakowski has been a softball and football assistant at Endicott College as well as the assistant director of athletic facilities there. He also serves an internship in the Hamilton-Wenham athletic program.
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Lauren Wholley, 21, of Danvers, a 6-footer with two years of basketball eligibility left, has transferred from Endicott to Salem State. It's her third move since starring at Pingree School as a four-year regular who averaged a double-double and was an Eastern Independent League All-Star.
Wholley started out at Elmira College, where she an Empire-8 all-rookie team selection and the top rebounder as a freshman. She left Elmira for Endicott and did not play the first semester as a transfer.
"Things just didn't work out at Endicott, and I got permission to talk to Tim Shea at Salem. He recruited me out of Pingree and still wanted me to play at Salem," Wholley said.
Wholley was a four-year soccer goalie at Pingree and did two soccer seasons at Elmira, but wasn't sure she'd do soccer at Salem.
"I was on a cruise ship that tipped over off Port Canavaral. It made front page in The Salem News. I was lucky not to get hurt," she said. "I put my life in perspective after that; I wanted to come home. My family is important to me. I wanted to be close to home."
Bill Kipouras is a staff writer at The Salem News. He can be reached at 978-338-2615 or by e-mail: bkipouras@ecnnews.com.
