Lynn Babe Ruth 15s get ready for state tournament

LYNN – Greater Lynn Babe Ruth will roll out the red carpet, or in this case, the green carpet, tonight at Fraser Field with the opening of the Babe Ruth 15s state tournament.Although Babe Ruth games are usually played at the Breed’s Bowzer complex, the first three days of the tournament are being held at Fraser Field before the show moves back to O’Callaghan Way.Peabody will play Lawrence in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. and Arlington-Braintree will follow at 7:30 p.m. The Lynn 15s, who won the state title as 14s, won’t hit the field until Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when they play Plymouth, their nemesis in last year’s 14s held in South Boston.Lynn 15s manager Brian Mulvey is expecting Plymouth to be fired up for the rematch given the fact Lynn lost to the South Shore team, 6-1, in the opening game of the tournament last year and ended up winning six straight games to take the state title. Lynn came out of the losers’ bracket to defeat Plymouth in the final, sending it to an “if necessary” game, which Lynn also won.”It’s going to be fun,” Mulvey said. “I’m sure they’ve been waiting a year for this. I told our guy they’re going to be gunning for us.”Mulvey’s hoping this year’s road through the states will be a little easier and that means taking that first game to stay out of the losers’ bracket. He said Plymouth has a good pitcher in Matt Walsh.”He kept us off balance last year,” Mulvey said. “He throws hard. In that first game (last year) we beat ourselves ? We didn’t hit and we lost 6-1. But as we went on (in the tournament) we kept getting stronger.”Although Plymouth is a team to be reckoned with, Mulvey isn’t taking anyone lightly.”There are going to be lot of good teams in this thing,” he said, noting that Lynn, Taunton and Plymouth are the only returnees. The other five are new.The remainder of the field includes Franklin, which is coached by Jim McGuinness, a former Lynner and former classmate of Mulvey’s for two years at St. Mary’s; Lawrence, Arlington, Braintree and Peabody. Peabody, like Lynn, is a District 1 team. Although both teams won their brackets in the District 1 tournament, Lynn was already in as the host with the second best team also receiving an invite..For Mulvey, this year’s tournament marks the culmination of a four-year ride through Babe Ruth. He started coaching when his twin sons, Chris and Cam, were 13s and continued with a second year at the 13-year-old level (due to a change in the league age requirements). Last year he coached this group as 14s and now as 15s.Mulvey said the kids on the team have a lot of fun together, but when it comes time to take care of business, they get the job done.Mulvey said a big part of his team’s success is the pitching. His three main guys are Tyler Gauthier, Sam Hill and Alex Fiste, but he can also go to Gabe Smith, Brendan Carritte and Cam Mulvey if necessary.Some teams come in with two solid pitchers, but even our four, five and six guys pitch pretty good. Having a little extra pitching pays off.”Cam Mulvey and Smith are both solid lead-off hitters, while Carritte, Gauthier, Hill, Stevie Carroll and Fiste have also been swinging the bat well. Ryan Barrows, Chris Leone and Joe Hallisey all have good speed when they get the call to go into the outfield and Chris Mulvey gives the team a solid presence at second. Andrew Hunter and Greg Ryback come in at first base depending on the pitching situation and Kelvin Pimental can step in a third.Visitors to Fraser Field this weekend won’t lack for amenities. Babe Ruth volunteers will have tents set up along the third base line which will serve as the concession area. In addition to food and beverages, there will be t-shirts, programs and raffles for sale.The weekend will feature two games tonight at Fraser field, two on Saturday and four on Sunday. By the end of the day Sunday, there should only be four teams remaining. The rest of the games will be played at Breed.uBoth the Saugus 14s and 13s get under way Saturday at 2 p.m. i