Tanner baseball team outlasts St. John’s

DANVERS – The calendar might have said that it was only April 7, but there was an intensity at Gibbons Field on Monday that made it feel more like the middle of the state tournament in June.For Peabody and St. John’s Prep, both of which could be making a long run in the state tournament, their meeting on a frigid Monday afternoon proved to be an entertaining – and mistake-filled – affair.The teams combined for five errors and 12 runners left on base, but it was the Tanners who did enough of the little things to get out of town with a 5-4 victory in their season opener, which wasn’t settled until Trevor Manzi was called out by an eyelash at first with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh.”We knew coming out that we’d have a few jitters, but that’s why we scheduled this game,” Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt said. “And the kids responded well to it and our experience paid dividends.”Peabody (1-0) was in command for most of this one, carrying a 5-2 lead into the sixth before the Prep (2-1) began its comeback.Having been fooled for most of the game by crafty left-hander Kevin Skop, the Eagles finally put together a sustained rally against the Peabody starter.Manzi (2-4, run scored) and designated hitter Chris Welch (2-3) laced back-to-back singles to begin the inning. With the Peabody closer, Pat Dumas, warming in the bullpen, Skop retired Mike Yastremski before No. 9 hitter Peter Neal bunted for a hit to load the bases.Peter Castoldi closed the gap to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to the fence in left that plated Manzi. Skop’s counterpart, Jordan Edgett, then hit a bullet to short, but Josh Band was right there to field the hot shot and throw Edgett out to end the inning.”We had a couple of chances and couldn’t take advantage. Jordan hit that one right on the nose, but it was right at them,” Prep coach Pat Yanchus said.Skop exited the stage following the sixth, giving Bettencourt six innings of eight-hit ball.”Kevin is just a battler and you know when he goes out there, you’re going to get everything he’s got,” Bettencourt said. “And that was a typical Skop performance (Monday).”Dumas took the mound in the seventh to try to knock down the win. He retired Danny Haugh to start the inning but walked speedy Derek Coppola, who promptly stole second.Dumas then went to a full count against first baseman Chris Carmain before throwing a nasty curveball that got Carmain swinging. Manzi then hit a routine grounder to first that James Noftle bobbled before flipping to Dumas in time to end the game.”How about that 3-2 curveball?” Bettencourt said about Dumas’ strikeout of Carmain. “Last year, we wouldn’t have called that. But Pat has embraced the role so well that we can do that now.”The Eagles led 2-0 after one thanks to a walk, an RBI Haugh single and a Carmain RBI groundout. Peabody roared right back in the top of the second.Noftle reached on an infield single and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Gary Girolamo was plunked before an error and a Tyler Hopping groundout scored both runners.Peabody tacked on two more runs in the fourth thanks to a fielder’s choice and a passed ball and added a final run in the sixth on doubles from Girolamo and Hopping.”When the game got tight, we didn’t break,” Bettencourt said. “I was very pleased with how we played and the poise we showed.”