Lynn heads to Gallant final

SALEM – Baseballs were flying out of O’Grady Field at Forest River Park like they were going out of style on Sunday in the winner’s bracket final of the 26th Gallant Memorial Tournament that pitted Lynn against Peabody.The defending champions from the Tanner City belted eight home runs off Lynn pitching, but it wasn’t enough as Lynn pounded out 15 hits to take Peabody’s haymakers and earn a trip to Tuesday’s (6:30) championship game with a 16-12 victory.”We hit the ball well and so did they,” Lynn manager Jack Bartlett said. “We just made all the plays when we had to.”Peabody will play Beverly tonight (6:30) in the loser’s bracket finals, with the victor needing to knock off Lynn twice to win the tournament.The tone for the game was set early as Lynn jumped out to a big lead for a second straight day, having seen an 8-0 lead against Danvers disappear on Saturday before winning 9-8 in eight innings.In the top of the first, Lynn opened the scoring against Peabody starter Christian Morales. Damien Earp singled with one down before Lynn worked a little two-out magic.Cullen Dunnigan’s infield single scored Earp for a 1-0 lead. Bradley Dill walked and Brent Lozzi singled to bring in Dunnigan in for a 2-0 lead. A perfectly executed double steal followed as Dill came home from third for a 3-0 lead.Peabody threatened in the bottom of the first but Kyle O’Connor threw out Jonny Barret trying to go from first to third on a Jordan Manthorne single to help defuse the inning. Lynn then tacked onto its lead in the second.Mike Ausiello led off with a single and moved to second on an O’Connor base hit with one out. A wild pitch and throwing error brought Ausiello around for a 4-0 lead before Earp walked.Shortstop Katie Burt then launched a towering 3-run homer over the scoreboard in left field to stake Lynn to a 7-0 lead and knock Morales out of the game. Reliever David Hoar got Peabody out of the inning.Peabody chipped into the lead in the bottom half when Bryan Nerich lined a 2-run homer into the left-center stands to make it 7-2 after two. Neither team scored in the third before Lynn manufactured a run in the fourth when Burt singled, moved up on a passed ball and took third on a fly ball before stealing home on an appeal play to make it 8-2.Manthorne and Jack Leonard responded with back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-4 and open the floodgates for long balls.”We kept fighting back,” Peabody manager Joe Spatafore said.Lynn then looked to put Peabody down for the count in the top of the fifth.Anthony De la Cruz walked and Brandon Devin bunted for a base hit to open things. Mark Brazell followed with a single that scored De la Cruz for a 9-4 lead.O’Connor drove home two more with a double and scored on a passed ball. Burt capped the five-run explosion by launching her second homer of the game to make it 13-4.Lynn starter Brad Scuzzarella had held Peabody in check for most of the game, save for the fourth-inning homers, giving no indication of what the defending champs would do in the bottom of the fifth.Ben Manoogian struck out to lead off. Sean Walsh then launched Peabody’s third homer of the game to make it 13-5. Ryan Collins followed with a base hit and scored when Mike Raymond homered to left-center, cutting the lead to six.Barrett then deposited a Scuzzarella offering over the right-field fence and suddenly Peabody was very much alive, trailing 13-8.De la Cruz was summoned to take over and saw Manthorne reach on an error. Leonard then belted his fourth homer in two games to bring Peabody within three.Two batters later, Nerich smoked his second dinger of the game and Peabody’s amazing fifth of the inning, scoring Morales in front of him to bring Peabody within a run at 13-12.Lynn would respond in the top of the sixth as De la Cruz singled and Devin reached on a fielder’s choice. Brazell then fouled off two bunt attempts before ripping a 3-run homer to right for a 16-12 lead.De la Cruz followed by retiring the last