Cam Mulvey triple propels Lynn 15s past Taunton

LYNN – Cam Mulvey’s triple into the right field corner broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning on Monday night, keeping Lynn alive in the 15-year old Babe Ruth state championship with a 4-2 win over Taunton at Clancy Field.Lynn will play Braintree today (5:45) in another elimination game as it looks to repeat what it did last year in winning the 14-and-under title from the losers bracket.Lynn starter Sam Hill and Taunton’s Brian Roy were the story for most of the game as neither one was ready to blink.Hill held Taunton to two hits in the game, striking out 10, walking five and hitting one batter. He also was able to wiggle his way out of a pair of jams in the first and third innings, stranding runners 90 feet from home.Across the way, Roy was pulling off an even bigger Houdini act as he constantly danced out of trouble all night. In the second, Lynn had Hill at third and Steve Carroll on second with one out but Roy got Chris Mulvey and Greg Rybak to end the inning.In the third, Brendan Carritte singled with two outs and stole second but Tyler Gauthier flew out to center for the third out. AN inning later, Lynn had an even grander chance to take the lead.Hill singled off Roy’s glove with one out and then stole second. Carroll and Chris Mulvey then drew walks to load the bases for pinch hitter Andrew Hunter. Hunter hit one on the nose but right at shortstop Alexi Reyes, who tagged Carroll to complete an inning-ending double play.Taunton then rode the momentum of its third great escape of the game to finally break the scoreless deadlock in the fifth.Hill got Nolan Blakeley to start things but hit Connor March and issued walks to Cam Cooperstein and Nick Mather to load the bases. Reyes then hit a grounder to third, but the throw to the plate was off the mark, allowing March to score on the error for a 1-0 lead.Keith Carvalho followed with a base hit to center, scoring Cooperstein to make it 2-0. Taunton might have added more to its lead but a base running blunder from Carvalho at first saw him doubled off on Mark Simpson’s fly ball to right that would have scored Mather to make it 3-0.Not one to waste a chance, Lynn came right back in the bottom of the fifth after the timely defensive play. Gabe Smith walked and immediately stole second. He headed to third on a passed ball and scored on Cam Mulvey’s single to right.Mulvey stole second before Carritte struck out. Tyler Gauthier drew a walk and Alex Fiste tied the game when he singled to right-center, scoring Mulvey from second.Taunton prevented further damage when March and Ross Palazzi combined to throw out pinch runner Zach Paone at the plate trying to score on a Carroll fly ball to right.Controversy then reigned in the sixth. Hill got the first two Taunton batters on strikes before walking Blakeney. A balk moved him to second for March, who hit a grounder to Smith at short. But the ball was misplayed, allowing March to reach.Blakeney never stopped running on the play and Smith’s throw to Hunter at the plate was in plenty of time to get the Taunton catcher. Blakeney leveled Hunter at the plate and was called out and tossed out of the game for the action.With Carvalho now on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, Lynn finally took its first and only lead of the game. Hunter walked with one out and was lifted for pinch runner Chris Leone.Carvalho then hit Smith, bringing Cam Mulvey to the plate. And the Lynn third baseman delivered when he sliced his shot into the right field corner, scoring both men to make it 4-2. Hill then worked a quiet seventh to keep Lynn’s hopes for a title alive.