Saugus 14s grind out win over Plymouth

NORWOOD – The Saugus 14-year-old Babe Ruth team knows what it wants to do, and where it wants to be, and it keeps grinding out the wins to get there.The 14s made it to the finals of the EMass state tournament with a heart-stopping 4-3 win over Plymouth Tuesday night at the Balch Elementary School field. They’re in action again Thursday (7:30), with their opponent still to be determined.”These kids want to be right back where they were last year, and they’re fighting like heck to get there,” said manager Derek Sweeney after his team survived a tense seventh inning to hold on for the victory.”That was a great game,” Sweeney said.Saugus grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Nick Antenucci knocked home A.J. Guthro. But Plymouth grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on a double by Sean Murphy that scored Connor Follette to tie the game; and an infield error that scored Murphy.It didn’t take Saugus long to answer. Guthro beat out an infield hit and then pitcher Dom DiPesa – who went six innings to get the win – made SURE he got the win by launching a towering home run over the giant screen in left field that protects the surrounding houses from stray baseballs. The fence is 320 feet away – making a longer poke than the left-field wall at Fenway Park.”I can’t think of too many major league parks that ball wouldn’t have been out of,” said Sweeney.After his rough second inning, DiPesa settled down from thereon out, giving up only two hits in his final three innings.However, Plymouth pitcher Cody Holmes made sure his team stayed in the game, too, allowing only two hits and a run after DiPesa’s home run.”He’s a tremendous player,” said Sweeney, “definitely the best player on their team.”Saugus scored its final run – and it made a huge difference, as it turned out – in the fourth inning when Nick Enos (“he had a great game, with a triple and a double,” said Sweeney) hit a two-bagger to lead off, took third on an infield out, and then scored when DiPesa legged out an infield hit.The seventh inning was fraught with adventure. Riley MacEachern, pitching in relief of DiPesa, struck out the first batter he faced, but Murphy hit a squibber that just died between the mound and the plate. MacEachern, trying to make a play, slipped and then threw desperately off-line, allowing Murphy to beat it out.John Myette grounded out, allowing Murphy to reach third. And then Holmes put up a lengthy, gutsy at-bat, running the count full and hitting numerous fouls – including two very nasty curves that were already in the dirt by the time he swung. Finally, he punched one off the end of his bat that glanced off first baseman Dan Trentsch’s glove for a base hit, scoring Murphy.MacEachern bore down, however, getting pinch-hitter Danny West to strike out swinging to end the game.The 14s join their 15-year-old counterparts, who are still alive in their tournament (which is being hosted by Lynn Babe Ruth). The 15s are back in action Friday (7:45) against Braintree in the winner’s bracket final of their tournament.