Page 14 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, March 13, 2020 ~ The Malden Sports Wire ~ Former Malden High standouts off to solid collegiate baseball season starts By Steve Freker M any former Malden High School (MHS) student-athletes have gone on to compete at the next level in many athletic endeavors. A trio of former Golden Tornadoes baseball standouts have gotten off to strong starts on the baseball diamond, including a southpaw hurler and a slugging third baseman, each of whom got off to great starts recently. First-year lefty Billy Stickney, a two-time All-Conference AllStar for MHS the past two seasons and a 2019 MHS graduate, made his collegiate debut when he got the opening day nod on the mound for Northern Essex Community College (NECC) on Saturday at Haverhill’s Trinity Stadium. Stickney responded with three scoreless innings and two strikeouts, allowing just one hit in his outing against University of Connecticut-Avery Point. He did Andrew Caulfield not get a decision as UConn-Avery Point had a rally in the later innings with Stickney out of the game, and took the win. “It was a good opening day for Billy [Stickney],” said NECC head coach Jeff Mejia, who has taken three NECC teams to the NJCAA World Series in the past several years. “He filled up the strike zone and challenged hitters.” 2020 Team Malden Neighborhood Basketball League (MNBL) Games behind Celtics - c* Sonics - c Hawks - c Bullets - c Kings Lakers Pistons Sixers W L 13 11 10 6 5 4 4 3 1 3 4 8 9 10 10 11 C = Playoff Bound *Clinched 1st Week 10 Saturday, March 7 at Ferryway Game 1 – Kings 55, Bullets 40 Prior to the game starting, the Kings finally unveiled their 2019 Championship Banner. And then they came out and took care of business against a team/coach they struggled against year after year. It was Jason Crocker leading the way to this much coach anticipated victory, by scoring a game-high 25, and Sammy Solorzano added 15, which was the margin of victory. The Bullets Cameron Kilpatrick (15) and Jason Mei (12) were the top two for the boys in blue as they ended their regular season on a two-game losing streak and have the luck of facing the Top seeded Celtics this Saturday in game one of the playoffs – “anything can happen.” Just remember that! Game 2 – Hawks 2, Lakers 0 (forfeit) Sadly, the Purple & Gold’s season came to an end with their third forfeit of the year. A very tough season for a promising team with talent – they just couldn’t keep the bodies on the court. The Hawks on the other hand, who already locked up a playoff berth two weeks ago, get to rest their players and prepare for next week’s Madness Weekend – finishing in third place overall and playing the second-place Sonics, who they swept this year, 2-0. Mental advantage goes to the Hawks…but that’s why it’s the Madness; expect the unexpected at all times. Inside Info: • Celts take 1st place for the 3rd straight year and if they make the Final, it will be 0 2 3 7 8 9 9 10 Streak W - 7 L - 2 W - 2 L - 2 W - 2 L - 2 W - 2 L - 6 Name J. Davila J. Dorcena C. Moulain Y. Kerany A. Beshah Name 1 Y. Kerany 2 S. Kelley 3 A. Beshah 4 S. Cohen 5 R. Saint Fort 6 D. Bono 7 C. Peguero 8 J. Davila 9 C. Moulain 10 J. Dorcena 2020 Scoring Leaders Top 5 (3-Point Shooters) Games 14 10 12 13 12 Team Sonics Sonics Bullets Hawks Pistons Hawks Celtics Pistons Sixers Celtics Kings Celtics Sonics Bullets Sonics FTM 43 26 50 40 21 11 17 35 32 23 3's 37 33 32 28 26 Top F.T. Shooters (MIN. 19 Attempts) Team FTA 66 40 82 68 36 20 32 67 62 45 F.T.% 65.2% 65.0% 61.0% 58.8% 58.3% 55.0% 53.1% 52.2% 51.6% 51.1% Last Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 X 9 BASKETBALL | SEE PAGE 15 their third straight trip to the Big Dance also – 0-2 the last two tries. • Hawks swept the Sonics this year (2-0), but, as they say, it’s very hard to beat one team three times in one year. • Sonics gave the Celtics their only loss on the season and just missed from the sweep last week. • Bullets are 1-5 against the three other teams. Only Beat the Hawks and lost by only one in their second game. The MNBL Madness Begins This Weekend! Billy Stickney Stickney had a great career at Malden High School the past two seasons, compiled an 8-7 record overall with nearly 200 strikeouts in two full seasons on the mound, over 147 innings. This past season, he was named to the Northeastern Conference (NEC) All-Conference Team for the second consecutive season after going 4-3 overChuck Andre all on the mound and leading the NEC in strikeouts (93 in 68 innings pitched) and finishing with a 1.27 earned run average. Stickney also had a breakout season at the plate for Malden last spring, finishing in the top 10 in the NEC with a .341 average with 14 RBIs and five doubles. Joining Stickney on the NECC roster is another former MHS ~ Malden Neighborhood Basketball League ~ standout, 2016 grad Ronnie Luke. Luke, also a lefty, led the Knights in every pitching category in the 2019 season (6-0 record, 56 Ks, 44.1 IP, 3.86 ERA) and will return as the staff ace this season. Down the Mass. Pike at Framingham State University, another MHS grad made a loud entry into his Ram baseball program. FSU junior Andrew Caulfield, also a 2016 MHS graduate, had two home runs and a whopping five RBIs in a 14-9 win for the Rams over visiting Lasell University on March 7, in a game played at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough. Caulfield whacked tworun homers in back-to-back innings in the fifth and sixth, to first give FSU a 6-5 lead it would not relinquish, and then to up the lead to 10-5. Caulfield, who plays for the AnTRIO | SEE PAGE 15
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