Connery stages rally to defeat Swampscott in legion action

LYNN ? Bill O’Donnell pitched three scoreless innings in relief after Connery erupted for six runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead the Sixers to a 6-5 win over Swampscott, Friday night, at Clancy Field.Connery improved to 4-2, while the Mariners fell to a surprising 1-3.”It’s a nice win,” Connery manager Tim Fila said. “The kids had a nice comeback after falling behind by five runs. It says a lot about their character.”As invigorating as this game was for Connery, it was equally as frustrating for the Mariners, who contributed to Connery’s big inning with some poor defense.”That inning was a disgrace,” Swampscott coach Jeff Newhall said. “In three of our four games, we’ve had an inning where we’ve given up five or more runs.”Doug Shribman hit a solo homer in the second inning, and Hunter Gordon stroked a 2-run blast and Shane Coffey and Dan Reddy each drove in a run with doubles in the Mariners’ 4-run fourth to give Swampscott a 5-0 lead.In the bottom of the fourth, Connery finally got to Swampscott starter Mike Scanlon, who had allowed just one hit over the first three innings.Vin DeCesare led off with a single, and Nick Roberts’ liner to straightaway center bounced out of Reddy’s glove. One out later, Roberto Reyes laced a double down the right field line to score both runners. Walks to Wilson Mercado and Anthony Ortiz ended Scanlon’s night, and reliever Peter Kinchley induced a groundball to shortstop from T.J. Bartlett that could have been an inning-ending double play.Instead, the ball took a hop off Justin Mitchell’s glove, allowing Reyes to score.Mercado scored on a wild pitch, and then Ortiz came home on a groundout by Ryan Beliveau. Bartlett scored the sixth run of the inning on another wild pitch.”(Scanlon) pitched well, and (Kinchley) pitched well at the end, but we totally fell apart in that inning,” Newhall said. “In order to be the team we want to be, we’ve got to show up ready to play, and play better when we’re here.”O’Donnell pitched out of minor jam in the fifth and saved his best escape for the seventh. With one out, Kinchley beat out a grounder to the right side. That brought up Shribman, whose homer in the second inning went over the road that passes in front of Breed Middle School.He was walked and hit by a pitch in his next two at bats, and Connery had the unsavory option of pitching around him again and putting the potential winning run on base. O’Donnell fell behind 3-1, then came with a fastball for a called strike that Shribman thought was high. The next pitch was a blazing fastball on the outside corner that Shribman swung at and missed.Gordon extended the inning with a single to center, but Chris Cameron grounded out to Ortiz at second to end the game.”O’Donnell challenged (Shribman) and won. He’s a tremendous hitter,” Fila said. “We have a lot of respect for Swampscott, and for us to beat them is great for our kids.”Beliveau started for Connery and picked up the win by allowing five runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in four innings. Only one of the five runs Scanlon allowed was earned, while Kinchley was tagged with the loss despite allowing one unearned run on two hits.Gordon’s homer was a 2-run blast to left center with no outs in the fourth. Later in the inning, Coffey’s double to left scored Phil Witt, who was hit by a pitch, and then Reddy stroked a double to left center that scored Coffey.Connery next plays on Tuesday (8) at home against Methuen. Swampscott plays its next two games at home – against Saugus on Sunday (noon) and against Andover on Monday (6).