Beverly belts its way past English

LYNN – Matt Lanza wanted the ball and Beverly coach Dave Wilbur wasn’t about to say no to his senior captain.Lanza responded by shutting down English Monday at Fraser Field while his teammates pounded out 17 runs on 17 hits to move within a victory of claiming a piece of the Northeastern Conference’s North Division title thanks to a 17-3 win over the Bulldogs.”Matty asked me a week ago if he could pitch this game,” Wilbur said. “And when your senior captain asks to throw against a team like that, you’re going to give him the ball.”The Panthers (17-2, 13-2 NEC) scored in every inning but two and had every starter get at least one hit. Beverly also took advantage of five English errors to break the game open in the middle innings.”That’s a good team over there,” English coach Joe Caponigro said.After a scoreless first, the Panthers got the scoring started in the second against English starter Sam Hill. A walk and a double put runners on second and third for Steve DuBois, who brought Ethan Trowt home on a fielder’s choice for a 1-0 lead.No. 9 batter Frankie Messina followed with a double that scored DuBois to make it 2-0. Hill got the next batter, but a two-out walk to Mark Theriault kept the inning going for Joe Wioncek, who singled home Messina to make it 3-0. Wioncek was 4-for-5 with four RBI.After Lanza shut the door on English in the second, the Panthers busted the game wide open in the third, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring six times on four hits and a critical English error.After striking out Austin Butler to lead off, Hill walked Trowt and surrendered singles to Felix Zamot and DuBois to extend the lead to 4-0. Messina walked to load the bases for Andy Brown, who hit a grounder to third that looked to be the start of an inning-ending double play.Dani Vincente’s throw home was wide, allowing Zamot to score for a 5-0 lead. The mistake proved to be critical when Wioncek doubled home two more runs and Pete Kallas followed with a 2-run single to suddenly give Beverly a 9-0 lead.Beverly wasn’t done scoring two-out runs as it got two more in the fourth against reliever Gabe Smith on a double by Brown that made it 11-0. The Bulldogs (12-5, 10-5) fought back for two runs in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from Vincente and a single by Anthony Ortiz.Even with a nine-run lead, Wilbur wasn’t taking anything for granted with English’s explosive lineup.”Even at that point, I didn’t feel comfortable,” Wilbur said. “With the lineup they have, no lead is safe.”Wilbur’s worries were not needed on this night as Lanza settled in and held the Bulldogs at bay the rest of the way.After the teams traded runs in the sixth, Beverly put the game away with five more runs in the seventh on five hits and another error.”Beverly is an excellent team,” Caponigro said. “Now we have to regroup a little and get ready for Wednesday against Classical. I still feel confident in these kids.”