Peabody West slugs way to top seed in New England semis

With its spot in the New England regional semifinals already assured, the pressure was turned down a little bit for Peabody West on Wednesday as it closed pool play against Glastonbury, CT, and perhaps the Massachusetts champs relaxed a little too much in the early going as they found themselves trailing 7-1 in the second inning.Then came the onslaught.Led by Matt Hosman’s two 3-run homers, part of his six-RBI afternoon, Peabody sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring 11 times in the bottom of the second inning to take an eventual 13-7 win and clinch the top seed in the New England semifinals at a rainy Breen Field.Ironically, the two teams will meet again today (5:30) in the semifinals as Glastonbury finished at 2-2 and earned the No. 4 seed after losing a head-to-head tiebreaker with Vermont.”We get to play them again (today) and we’ll see what happens,” Peabody manager Dave Batchelor said. “We all remember what happened a few years ago.”Three years ago, it was the same scenario in the semis with the Connecticut champs knocking out Peabody in the semifinal round after being walloped in the final pool play game.Both teams knew before they took the field on Wednesday that they would be playing in the semifinals – Rhode Island’s 7-4 win over New Hampshire in the other New England game assured that – so both teams were in pitcher conservation mode.Peabody gave the ball to A.J. DiFillipo, who struck out the side in the first inning but allowed Nate Mandell’s third homer of the tournament, a lined shot off one of the flagpoles atop the left-field fence, for a 1-0 lead.Peabody (4-0) rallied back in the bottom of the first as Hosman (3-for-3, 4 RS) reached for the first of his four times in the game. Glastonbury starter Anthony Takehashi then got the next two hitters before Mike Petrosino (3-for-4, RBI, RS) singled and Takehashi was lifted after throwing 19 pitches, one under the limit allowed to still be eligible for today’s game.”I was surprised to see they started (Takehashi) since he’s the guy that is going to start (today),” Batchelor said. “I thought they wanted to just win the game and not have to play us. And then they took him out at 19.”David Brunner came in from center and was greeted by a Nick Bona single that brought in Hosman to tie the game after one.Glastonbury then exploded in the top of the second, raining down runs as the skies were ominous in centerfield.Joe Sachitella reached on an error and Alec Graham belted his first career Little League homer over the left-center fence for a 3-1 lead. After Brunner singled, the umpires called the teams off the field and cleared the stands as lightning was seen in the area.Following a brief delay, Glastonbury picked up right where it left off. Mark Wiedemer walked before Takehashi launched a 3-run homer to left for a 6-1 lead.One batter later, Mandell was at it again, belting his fourth homer of the tourney to give Connecticut a commanding 7-1 lead.Having scored 30 runs in its first three games, Peabody had shown its offensive might in Bristol. But nothing had come close to what transpired in the bottom of the third.Sean McGrath led things off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Matt Correale drew a one-out walk before Hosman was able to muscle a pitch barely over the right-field fence for a 3-run shot that cut the lead to 7-4.After Austin Batchelor reached on an infield single, catcher Traverse Briana turned on a fastball and lined a 2-run homer into the left-field bleachers to suddenly cut the gap to a run.Petrosino kept the momentum going when he doubled to right-center and went to third when Anthony Cravotta reached on an error. DiFillipo then dumped a single into short left to tie the game at 7-7.Pinch hitter Cody Wlasuk was the 10th man to bat in the inning, and he reached on a base hit that loaded the bases. Matt Gonick (2-for-2, 2 RBI, RS) then missed a grand slam by three feet as his single scored Cravotta and DiFillipo for a 9-7 Peabody lead.Correale lin