Lynn Babe Ruth 15s baseball preps for EMass tourney

Sometimes, you can learn valuable lessons from your most bitter defeats.That’s what Lynn Babe Ruth 15-year-old manager Charlie Liberge hopes, anyway. The Lynners made it to the championships in the District 1 tournament in Peabody, and had a 12-5 lead over Saugus going into the seventh inning. That’s when Saugus stormed back, scoring eight to win the game, 13-12, and the title.”That was a tough loss, obviously,” says Liberge, “but we learned from it. We learned the value of never quitting, of always hanging in there. Maybe we can apply that in this tournament.”Lynn begins play in the Babe Ruth EMass 15-year-old tournament tonight (7:45) at the Ben Bowzer Complex against Plymouth. And one thing is for certain ? this Lynn team hits.”Twelve of our 14 kids hit in the first game we played,” said Liberge, “11 of 13 in the second, and we kept hitting all the way through.”But it isn’t just hitting, he says. Execution is also key to his team.”If we get decent execution, and keep hitting, I have a lot of confidence that we’ll do well,” he said.Lynn, as the host team, gained an automatic berth in this tournament. But it chose to compete in the districts anyway.Liberge will be sending ace Bryan Wilkins to the mound, with John Finnigan at third, Jonathan Capano in center, Joe Kasper in right, Bobby Liberge in left, Will Feliz at short, Nick Day at first, and Andrew White behind the plate.Also on the team are Jorge Perez, Joe Lannon, Joe Scuzzarella, Josh Gonzalez, Cam Bordan and Sean Buckland.”We also have a never-say-die attitude,” said Liberge. “Nobody gave us much of a chance against Saugus, but there we were, up 12-5, when they came back.”Like I said, I think we’ll be better for it,” he said.The tournament will be played from Thursday to Sunday, this week and next. The winner goes to the New England regionals in Providence, R.I.