Dupuis, Gould combine on no-hitter
- Updated: July 29, 2020
To say that Northeast Tides pitchers, Andrew Dupuis and Kevin Gould were “on”Tuesday night would be an understatement.
The two hard-throwing right-handers were dominant and in control during all seven innings on this hot and humid night at Peabody High School as the Tides blanked the Storm, 5-0 by way of a combined no-hitter.
Dupuis took the bump for his second start of the year and from the outset of this appearance, Tides teammates and the coaching staff could sense that Dupuis was locked in and ready for a special game
In command with all his pitches, Dupuis threw 66 pitches over his five innings to not just calm the Storm, but put it to rest. He had some extra zip on his fastball and located his variety of pitches with catcher and cousin, Jonathan Dube, all night. Dupuis and Dube were on the same page throughout the performance as Dube conducted a beautiful symphony of catching countless swings and misses, framing balls on the black and guiding many first pitch swings which led to routine outs for the Tides defense.
During his five innings, only two Storm players reached second base against Dupuis and none advanced farther. Dupuis completed the start by notching eight strikeouts against one walk.
Dupuis handed Tides manager Scott Bleakley the baseball as he strode off the mound after the bottom of the fifth, this after striking out the side. A selfless act indeed as all who follow the game of baseball know how tremendously hard it is for any pitcher to give up the ball when they are pitching a no-hitter, just pitched a dominating inning and realize that they have plenty of gas left in the tank.
Dupuis realized that combining the game was part of the evening’s game-plan and that Bleakley in turn was not just handing the ball over to a “mop up” man. In a “finish-what-I-started” exchange, Dupuis greeted Gould in the dugout and Gould would later calmly and confidently walk out to the rubber for the sixth inning and put the proverbial exclamation point on this one.
The former Endicott pitching ace faced six Storm hitters and retired five by way of strikeout. Blazing a fastball in the 90s and mixing in his hard slider with a occasional off speed, Gould had Storm hitters overmatched with some shaking their heads as they made their way from batters box to bench after the at bat.
Although Tuesday night was more about the pitching, the Tides offense had some great moments along the way. Sam Lachance’s RBI single in the first inning scored Max Malila (2-for-3 for the game) and was the only offense Northeast would need to win this contest.
Averaging eight runs a game, the Tides offense does not play that way, however, as they made sure to add a few more runs to the plate before this one was over. The Tides displayed their best offensive inning in the fifth, when they scored three runs after the first two batters were retired.
Leading the “let’s have fun with two” line, Tides center fielder, Ryan Coleman lined a ball down the left field line for a double to start the rally. Malila followed with a single to right plating Coleman and then scored immediately after as Keagan Calero tripled down the right field line. Calero, who has hit safely in all ten Tides contests is now 15-29 for the season (.517).
The Tides are 10-0 and are prepared for a highly anticipated matchup for their next game on Saturday. Northeast will take on the Kingston Night Owls in a 2 p.m. home date at Keay Field in East Rochester. The Night Owls are the defending league champions and have won the North Shore Baseball League final in five of the last six seasons.
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