LaFrancis perfect for
A-B
Thursday, July 27, 2006
When the umpire
called the last batter out on strikes, the Acton-Boxborough boys
12-year-old baseball team rushed the mound in jubilation and the AB
parents finally dared to exhale. They turned to each other
incredulously as the magnitude of what had just happened spread
through the stands: Kevin LaFrancis, the AB pitcher, had pitched a
perfect game. Not only had he held the other team to no and no hits,
he had not issued a walk or allowed a base runner in any other way.
In the process he had also managed to strike out 13 of the 18
batters he faced in the regulation six inning game and held the
other five hitters to three harmless ground outs and two infield pop-ups.
This
spectacular performance was all the more remarkable since it was
turned in against one of the best teams in the league, AB's arch
rival Sudbury, and since Sudbury's pitcher, Greg Strait was on his
way to pitching a magnificent game as well. In fact, at the end of
four innings the score was 0-0 and there was only a single hit by
either team, a single by AB's Thulani Denaro, who was left on base.
Things
changed in the bottom of the fifth inning when AB came to bat. Bill
Murphy led off the inning and fell behind in the count before
catching up with a fast ball over the outside of the plate. Murphy
drove the ball to deep center field and didn't stop running until he
was standing on second base. When the next AB batter walked on a
wild pitch, Murphy stole third base. After the next AB batter
fanned, Carl Hessler came to the plate and drove the first pitch he
saw deep enough into left field to score Murphy easily for what
turned out to be the only run of the game. Hesler leads the team in
hitting, batting a torrid .612 for the season.
Supporting
LaFrancis' phenomenal pitching performances, were Jake Pilecki and
Ryan McDonald, who both made great plays in the field to preserve
the perfect game . The other members of the Acton Boxboro Boys
Baystate A team are Joey Flannery, Travis Hamilton, Ryan McDonald,
John Mielke, Kevin Shaffer, Peter Sikalis, and Kurt Tugal. At the
midway point of the season, AB is in fifth place out of 34 teams in
the Eastern Massachusetts Baystate A division. AB looks forward to
the second half of the season with the potential for a second
championship in three years.
LaFrancis
played a major role in bringing the first championship to AB in the
summer of 2004 and in taking his AAU baseball team to the finals
this past spring. Great performances have not been rare for
LaFrancis in other endeavors as well. For the past three years he
has been the leading scorer on the AB travel basketball team for
boys of his age and he played the leading role in his school play,
Sleepy Hollow this past spring.
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