Burncoat king for day; Patriots take out frustration on Polar Bears.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: John McGuirk

WORCESTER - As enduring and disappointing as this season has been for the Burncoat High baseball team, for one day at least, all of it was a distant memory.

One could make the argument that a year of built-up frustration was emphatically released yesterday in the form of a 21-5 thumping of North High in an Inter-High game played at Tivnan Field.

Burncoat (4-13, 3-2) banged out 17 hits against four Polar Bear pitchers and took advantage of five errors for its biggest offensive explosion of the season.

The beginning of the end for North (6-11, 0-5) came in the second inning when Burncoat sent 12 batters to plate and scored eight times.

The Patriots never let their foot off the pedal as they scored in every inning, making for a long and frustrating afternoon for Polar Bears coach Chris Sabourin.

"We didn't play well," Sabourin said. "I was disappointed with the attitude of some of the kids because I think the whole year they've been competitors and fighters, and today they just didn't have it. We're in the midst of six straight games from last Sunday through this Friday, and we only have two solid pitchers."

North starter Josh Therrien lasted just two innings, allowing a solo run in the first before the wheels came off in the second. Burncoat led, 1-0, after Jeff Scafidi lined an opposite-field triple to right and scored on Kevin Prendiville's single.

Things fell apart quickly for Therrien, a junior right-hander, the following inning. The first three Patriot batters reached to load the bases. A single by senior John Pescheta (three hits) scored Burncoat's second run. Therrien then hit Kyle Jenket and Guy Scala with pitches for two more runs. That was followed by a two-run single from Scafidi.

Scala and Scafidi eventually came around to score on a ground-out and sacrifice fly, respectively. A double by junior Dan Jarvis (three hits) to right scored Mike McHugh, who had walked, making it 9-0.

"We've been playing better as of late,"...