Since I'm an all-service baseball kind of guy, here's a preview of the Middlesex League baseball tournament teams for anyone interested in the local angle...Hey, high school kids need a little pub too. I'll also be posting something at some point on a local kid from Stoneham named Mickey Wiswall that's got a full-ride to Boston College to play ball next year and could hear his name called when the MLB draft gets going next week.

Here also, are a couple of quotes from David Ortiz at the Reebok 4 Real Education and Community improvement kickoff event held at the Jeremiah E. Burke School yesterday afternoon, just hours before he just missed on a game-tying grand slam home run off Pesky's pole in right field ("missed it by that much...or more realistically by about 12 feet).

“In my situation, I really think I had a good life as a kid because I received a lot of love from my parents and family and I had a really good education and that was one of the most important things. We didn’t have the financial status but they gave me the most important thing that goes with it, education, love and teach people how to care and because of that, I worked extra hard.”

 “You need to show them a happy face and show them that it doesn’t matter how many times they knock you down. What matters is how many times you can get up. You’ve got to keep moving forward, stay positive and some day you’re going to be somebody.”

  “I’ve faced a lot of tough situations in my life. There are some people who you are going to see in your life that don’t care. They don’t care who you are and don’t care about who you are going to be. They just care about themselves. But you need to deal with those people everyday.”

“I just thought about at one point helping my mom and dad and leading a better life. Having a good life is not all about being rich and having everything. That’s not everything. There are a lot of people who were born with a lot of money and grow up to be nobody later in life and it was maybe because they had everything since they were born.”

                                          Middlesex League baseball tourney preview
After one of the most thrilling conclusions to a Middlesex League baseball season in recent memory, seven ML teams are gearing up for the MIAA tournament with four of the seven ready to do battle in the Division 2 North bracket beginning today.

Middlesex League champion Reading garnered the top seed in the Div. 2 North bracket with its 18-2 record and league championship, while Belmont rated high enough for the No. 3 seed after ending the season with a 17-3 record and taking the Rockets to the final game of the season for the ML title.

Burlington (15-5) tailed off in losing three of their last four games and employing some late-inning heroics to pull out its regular-season finale against 14th-seeded Concord-Carlisle.

Winchester, with its minimum qualifying 10-10 .500 record, was the 15th seed in the pool of 16 teams and has the toughest road through the field.

One guy who is really enjoying things these days is Reading coach Pete Moscariello whose Rockets won their 11th title in his 29 years as head coach.

"This has been a wonderful and really unexpected season considering everything that's taken place with our team this season," said Moscariello. "It's truly been a pleasure to come to the field with this team each and every day, and these guys have really gelled into a true team.

"There's always the risk for a letdown after such a dramatic finish for us in that finale against Belmont, but these kids understand what's at stake and are going into the tournament with the right mindset," added Moscariello.

Each of the tournament matchups have their own interesting backstories, and here's a rundown on each of the games set for this afternoon:

Reading (18-2) vs. Wayland (10-10) at Morton Field (4 p.m.)

The dramatics of the Middlesex League grudge match between the Rockets and the Marauders certainly incurred an emotional cost, but the ML champs have had three days to rest, regroup and start thinking about a little bit of revenge. Afterall, it was the very same Wayland High team that ended the Rockets season a year ago by a 7-1 score on their home turf.

Want to bet it's not going to happen again?

"I don't think there's any chance of our team overlooking this Wayland team," said Moscariello. "The memory should still be fresh in everybody's minds, and I also think this team takes the challenge of the postseason with the proper mindset."

The Rockets will start the game with senior righthander T.J. Murphy (1-0, 0.00) making only his second start of the season after he threw a two-hit shutout in his ML season debut. Murphy had come along slowly this season after knee surgery this winter and a tender shoulder this spring had kept him off the mound, but he was still able to contribute both on the field as a leftfielder and off the field as the unquestioned leader of the Rockets squad.

"I really thought we wouldn't be getting Murph back until about this point in the season, so everything he was able to give leading up to this was the most pleasant of surprises," said Moscariello. "We really needed not only his skills on the field, but his approach to the game and the calming effect he has on the rest of the team when he's out there. He's a great leader for this team, and it was a big benefit for us that he was able to play as much as he did."

Moscariello will have both Derek Rodger (6-0, 1.77 ERA) and Bryan Catanzano (4-1, 1.47 ERA) ready in relief in case Murphy falters or shows some understandable rust on the pitchers' mound.

The Rockets coach is expecting to see Wayland's ace in the form of right-hander Ricardo Sullivan (3-3, 1.17 ERA), who has racked up several big strikeout games for the Warriors but was the victim of an offense that had some problems scoring runs.

"He's one of the best pitchers in this Div. 2 North bracket and we've certainly got our work cut out for us in our first round match-up," said Moscariello.

Jack Lee will lead the Rockets offense with a .418 batting average and Alex Kozlowski was just behind with an even .400 and Rodger led Reading with 22 RBIs this season, giving Reading a well-balanced offensive attack headed into the first game.

Burlington (15-5) vs. Hyde Park (11-7) at Francis Wyman Middle School (4 p.m.)

The Red Devils suffered a mini-swoon that took them out of contention for the league title in the final week of the season, but they've got everything set up for them to make a run in the Div. 2 North bracket.

Burlington High coach Jim Curtin doesn't profess to know much about the 11th seeded Hyde Park team, and plans to start right-hander Kevin Georgette and will have righthander Dan Walsh and lefthander Joe Sheehan ready and willing to go if needed.

"We know they finished third in their league and that they're a quality opponent, but I don't have a lot more information on them," said Curtin. "If we go out and get the pitching and we play good defense then I think we should do pretty well. The big key for us is to make all the plays in the field."

What Curtin isn't saying is that a Burlington offense that has bludgeoned opponents for much of this season also needs to show up this afternoon, with first baseman/designated hitter Walsh, shortstop Sheehan, first baseman Kevin Pickette and Middlesex League batting champion Ben Mullin (.524 with 17 RBI's) all expected to have big postseasons for the Red Devils.

For the Bryant University-bound Walsh, it's time for the infinitely talented senior captain to throw the rest of his teammates on his powerful back and carry them through the first few rounds.

Keep in mind that if both the Red Devils and Marauders win their first-round match-ups that it will set up a Middlesex League-themed playoff game between the two teams in the quarterfinals.

Winchester (10-10) vs. Danvers (18-2) at Danvers (7 p.m.)

The Sachems barely squeaked into the tournament and they have a tough draw in the second-seeded Danvers team, which romped its way to a fifth straight Northeastern North Conference title this season.

Righthander Bob Dean is a perfect 6-0 for the Falcons and has a 16-strikeout game under his belt this season for Danvers, while catcher Eric Oxford is the linchpin of their offense with a .438 batting average, four home runs and 25 RBIs this season in 20 games.

"Danvers is traditionally a very good and strong baseball program and we really expect them to come ready to play," said Winchester coach Dave Blanchard. "We're going to have to limit our mistakes, play good fundamental baseball and we're also going to need to Chris Michienzi like we have all season.

"You can make arguments that there players in the Middlesex League that were better all-around players, but I think Michienzi was the most valuable player to his particular team this season," added Blanchard. "When you look at what we contributed to us this season, it kind of boggles the mind."

Michienzi finished the season with a 7-2 record for the Sachems as he lead the Middlesex League in victories with a 2.75 ERA and racked up 45 strikeouts in 61 innings on the strength of six complete games.

"We had 132 innings pitched as a team this season, which means that Chris pitched just about half of our innings pitched this season and also had seven of our 10 wins this year. That's what I call valuable," said Blanchard.

The Sachems will hope to do some damage against the Danvers pitching staff with their top trio of hitters: centerfielder Billy Crowley had a breakout junior season and led the team with a .438 batting average, 26 runs scored, and seven stolen bases this season; Derek Barauskas hit .383 with 16 runs scored and drove in a team-high 16 RBI's and Michienzi also hit .355 with 12 runs scored and 11 RBI's this season.

Belmont (17-3) vs. Concord-Carlisle (11-9) at Brendan Grant Field (4 p.m.)

Matt Ruane will be expected to lead a senior-laden Marauders squad deep into the tournament, and their first stop will be against the Patriots.

Ruane ended the season 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 36 innings for the Marauders and also hit .521 with two home runs and 21 RBIs to lead a group that includes centerfielder Andrew Diozzi, catcher Jon Smart, second baseman John Sodini and third baseman/pitcher Bryan Watkins.

C-C has a decent squad that plays out of good league. It split a pair of non-league games against the Red Devils with a standout shortstop in Corey Maple and a heavy, middle of the order hitter in Phil Recco who also serves as their closer in tight games.

Senior lefthander Grant McAndless will likely get the start for the Patriots, while Belmont coach Jim Brown will likely bypass Ruane and go with Watkins or righthander Taro Gold (a perfect 5-0 record) in the opening game.

"We're less worried about what the other team is going to and more concerned with playing our game in the tourney," said Brown. "We've been working a lot on situation offense the last couple of days, so we're prepared if we have to bunt, squeeze or do some of the little things to win some of these games."

Brown understands the risk inherent in not throwing Ruane out on the mound for the tourney's opening round, but he won't hesitate to bring in the hard-throwing right-handed ace if he feels the game starting to slip away.

"You always run the risk of being criticized if you don't throw your best pitcher during the first game, but everyone will be ready to go if needed in this one," said Brown. "We have full confidence in our entire pitching staff.

"One thing we don't want to do is press and try to do too much out there," added Brown. "There's a fine line when effort turns from productive to destructive if a team is trying too much."

The Marauders will also have revenge on their mind as C-C eliminated the Marauders on their home field during a 4-1 loss in the quarterfinals last season before dusting Winchester off in the semifinals.

Other Middlesex League matchups:

Div 1 North: Lexington (12-8) vs. Central Catholic (13-7) at Merrimack College (4 p.m.)

The Minutemen did an admirable job of putting up the 12-8 record and netting the 10th seed in the Div. 1 North tourney despite a season without the services of ace pitcher and returning All-League performer Max McKenna. Lexington coach Tom O'Grady will have the solid Minutemen making all the right fundamental plays, but they simply don't have the pitching to make it despite solid shortstop Ross Curley, hard-hitting catcher Nick Pisegna and talented centerfielder Tom Whalen. The Minutemen bowed out in the first round last season when they dropped a 4-3 decision to Malden Catholic.

Div. 3 North: Stoneham (6-14) vs. Chelsea (12-8) at Chelsea High (4 p.m.), Watertown (5-15) vs. O'Bryant (12-7) at O'Bryant (4 p.m.).

The Spartans and the Red Raiders both utilized their standing as Div. 3 school population members to qualify for the Div. 3 North tournament.

For Stoneham, centerfielder Chris Daniels hit a torrid .435 for the Spartans this season and young pitching staff with hurlers like Joe Russell, Ryan MacDonald and Dan Lebrun could perform well if given the shot.

The Red Raiders have a good pitcher in senior Justin Renzella and both Renzella and catcher Sean Callahan hope to keep things rolling against in inexperienced O'Bryant team. The Red Raiders were a first-round victim of Arlington Catholic in last season's tourney while the Spartans defeated Matignon before losing out to North Reading by a 3-1 score.