Burt’s late blast gets Lynnfield past Wyoma

LYNN – Leave it to the two veteran players on Lynnfield’s District 16 all-star team to help get the program back to the winner’s bracket finals for the first time since winning it all in 2002.Greg Baselesco erased a 5-1 deficit in the fourth with a grand slam off Wyoma starter Katie Burt and then Jake Burt provided the winning runs with a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to give Lynnfield an 8-5 win at Pine Hill’s Chris Spagnoli Field on Friday.Lynnfield will play Saugus American on Sunday (5) at East Lynn for the right to go to the district final. Wyoma, meanwhile, will play today (5) at West Lynn American’s Flynn Field against East Lynn in an elimination game.After being unable to solve Burt over the first three innings, Lynnfield’s patience at the plate finally paid dividends in the fifth when it tied the game. That was something that manager Kevin Canty had preached to his kids.”We stressed patience at the plate to the kids,” Canty said. “We wanted to drive her pitch count up and we told them to look for a fastball to hit and drive it. And that’s what Greg got on that 2-0 pitch.”Across the diamond, Wyoma was looking back at two glorious chances in the final innings as it loaded the bases in both the fifth and sixth innings, but came away empty. In all, Wyoma left 10 runners on in the game.”They got the big hits when they needed them and we didn’t. It’s as simple as that,” Wyoma manager Jeff Earp said.Both teams came in off long layoffs with Wyoma having not taken the field in 10 days while Lynnfield had nine days off. And it was Wyoma quickly shaking off the rust in the first.Brendan O’Neil reached on an error to lead off the game. Cullen Dunnigan followed with a walk and Katie Burt singled to left, scoring O’Neil for a 1-0 lead.Brent Lozzi followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center that got Dunnigan in from third to make it 2-0. Bradley Dill then reached on an error before Mike Ausiello and Mark Brazell singled to quickly give Wyoma a 4-0 lead.”We came out and jumped right on them. That was good to see after the long layoff,” Earp said.Katie Burt breezed through the first three innings, facing the minimum. She also helped extend the lead to 5-0 in the third by walking and eventually scoring on a passed ball with the bases loaded.In the fourth, Wyoma threatened to deliver a knockout punch. Damien Earp walked and O’Neil singled to knock Jake Burt from the game. Jake Rourke came on and got Dunnigan swinging and Katie Burt on a fly ball to right before catcher Danny Sullivan made what turned out to be the game’s biggest play when he gunned down O’Neil trying to steal second to end the inning.”We didn’t start playing well until the fourth inning,” Canty said. “But then things started coming together.”Lynnfield then began its comeback as Brendan Sullivan was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the fourth. Burt then began to lose her command as Montesanto and Rourke walked to load the bases. Jake Burt then fouled off a pair of two strike pitches before drawing a walk that scored Sullivan to make it 5-1.Baselesco then got two balls ahead in the count when he drilled a fastball deep over the left field fence to suddenly tie the game at 5-5. Burt departed and O’Neil came in to get the next three batters to end the inning.After Wyoma loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth and failed to convert, Lynnfield took advantage of a chance to take the lead in its half of the fifth. Danny Sullivan led off with a single, but was erased on a Brendan Sullivan fielder’s choice.Montesanto then missed a homer by inches as his double put runners on second and third. O’Neil got Rourke looking before Burt clocked a fastball to dead center to give Lynnfield an 8-5 lead.”Jake is the leader of this team and in a big spot like that, I don’t want anyone else up,” Canty said.Wyoma made it interesting in the sixth as O’Neil walked before Katie Burt and Lozzi singled with one out to load the bases. But Rourke got Di