Old-time Little League rivalry back; Swampscott to face Wyoma in district final

LYNN – Looking to return to another District 16 final, Swampscott gave the ball to its ace, Trevor Massey, on Friday at Volunteer Field against three-time defending champion Saugus National.Well, all Massey did was strike out 11, walk one and allow just one hit as Swampscott took a 3-0 win in the losers bracket final to put an end to the Nats reign atop the district and earn a spot in Sunday’s finals (5:30 at East Lynn) against Wyoma.Swampscott will now have to beat an unbeaten Wyoma team twice to win the title. It’s something that has happened before as Swampscott did it during their run of eight straight district crowns in the ’90’s.”It’s just nice to be back in the finals,” Swampscott manager Mike LeBlanc said. “These kids have a lot of heart and belief in themselves and they just battle.”It didn’t hurt that Massey was on his game Friday.Swampscott’s best arm needed only 77 pitches to get the complete game win, throwing no more that 16 pitches in any inning. Massey allowed one man, Justin DiChiara, to reach second base and saw only four batters get on all game.”Everytime he goes out there we expect that,” LeBlanc said about Massey. “He’s been with me for four years and it amazes me how strong he gets as the game goes on.”Massey’s performance even had the attention of Saugus National manager Joe Dominick.”(Massey) had his game on,” Dominick said. “And we just weren’t ready for that. We were out of sync at the plate.”Swampscott needed Massey’s best effort as Nats starter Tom Trainor basically matched him pitch-for-pitch. Trainor struck out eight, walked two and allowed only three hits on 78 pitches.”Tommy threw a hell of a game,” Dominick said. “You look at three hits versus two hits and that’s a good game no matter which way it ended up.”Massey issued a 2-out, first inning walk to Kory Dominick but got Trainor on a bouncer back to the mound to end the inning. Trainor also started fast as he retired the first seven Swampscott batters in a row.But with one out in the third, Brendan McDonald singled to center. He was still on first when Nunzio Moretti struck out when an errant pickoff throw sailed into right, allowing him to move up.That mistake came back to haunt the Nats when Massey ripped a hit to center, scoring McDonald for a 1-0 lead.”With the way Massey was pitching, we figured that one run would be enough,” LeBlanc said.Massey ran into a little bit of trouble in the third, when he struck out the first two men before DiChiara singled to left. But he was left on second when Tyler Granara bounced back to the mound. After that, Swampscott’s ace put it in another gear.Trainor was hit by a pitch in the fourth but was promply caught stealing second to end that threat. In the bottom of the inning, Swampscott showed off its baserunning prowess.Ben Faulkner drew a one out walk before pinch runner Pat Burkett went to second on a passed ball. Trainor struck out John King for out No. 2 before Nick Agresti singled to right-center, plating Burkett for a 2-0 lead.Agresti then showed off his wheels, taking second and third on passed balls and catching the Nats defense sleeping by stealing home to make it 3-0 through four.”We have a lot of speed and ran the bases like we always do,” LeBlanc said.And with Massey in another world, that was all the offense Swampscott needed. Seven of the last eight Nats batters went down on strikes, including Dominick swinging for strikeout No. 11 to end the game.”(Massey) mixed it up very well,” Dominick said. “He had us swinging at curveballs when we were expecting fastballs.”