Classical baseball ekes out a win in eight innings

There’s nothing sweeter in baseball than a walk-off victory, and nothing more bitter than losing a game you should have won.Eddie Terrero’s sacrifice fly with no outs in the bottom of the eighth scored Kyle Gauthier with the winning run to give the Lynn Classical baseball team a 4-3 win over Winthrop, Friday night, at Fraser Field.The extra inning never should have happened, though. With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh, Greg Rybak lifted a fly to right field that should have ended the game, but Winthrop’s Harry Benson misjudged the ball and it dropped for a three-base error, allowing pinch-runner Sammy Rios to tie the game.”Keep fighting; keep playing until the final out,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “This team never gives up. They play hard, they practice hard, and it’s starting to pay off.”The Rams (3-7) won their second in a row, and Zukowski senses a sudden change in Classical’s fortunes heading into the second half of the season.”We won a big game on Wednesday, and we came up with a big win tonight in extra innings,” he said. “Hopefully we can carry over this momentum into Monday (at Swampscott).”The unfortunate losing pitcher for the Vikings (5-6) was Rob Swanson, who was mostly brilliant and kept Classical off-balance with his curveball all night. He allowed just five hits and stuck out 11.”He’s just had tough luck,” Winthrop coach Jim Gillis said, of Swanson. “He’s pitched great all season long.”In one of the classiest gestures anyone will ever see on a baseball field or anywhere else, Swanson went right over to Benson – who very apparently felt awful about his misplay – and consoled him after the end of the seventh inning.”It’s a tough one to lose,” said Gillis. “We’ve hit a tough stretch here, losing four in a row.”Classical got four innings each from Tyler Gauthier and Ryan Powers, who each allowed one earned run. Powers, who picked up the win, yielded just two hits, while Gauthier, coming off an arm injury, allowed four hits.The Vikings broke on top with a run in the top of the third on a single by Nick McCarthy (4-for-4, run, RBI), an error, a walk and an RBI single by Tyler Pettee.Classical answered with a run in the bottom of the third when Greg Rybak was hit by a pitch, stole two bases and scored when Kyle Gauthier (2-for-3, walk, run, RBI) dumped a bloop single to right.The teams added one run each in the fourth. Anthony Spinazzola and Benson walked to open the inning, and McCarthy loaded the bases with a single. Spinazzola scored on a wild pitch, but Tyler Gauthier retired the next two batters to work out of the jam.”We didn’t take advantage of all our opportunities early in the game,” said Gillis, whose team left seven runners on base in the first four innings.For Classical, Ellido Reyes singled with one out and scored when Tyler Gauthier (2-for-3, run) slashed a rare Swanson fastball to left field for a triple.In the top of the sixth, Benson reached on a fielder’s choice, went to second on a wild pitch and scored when McCarthy lined the first pitch he saw from Powers into left for an RBI single to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.Tyler Gauthier opened the bottom of the seventh with a single to left and Rios pinch-ran. Swanson struck out Powers and induced a flyout from John Finnigan. Rybak’s fly ball was hit high, but Benson had plenty of time to settle under it. He ended up positioned about three feet too far to his right, and the ball fell wide of his out-stretched glove. Swanson then got Wilfredo Feliz to ground out to end the inning with Rybak on third.Benson singled with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Powers got Christian Howard to pop out to center to end the inning.Kyle Gauthier led off the seventh by lining a Swanson offering on the outside corner down the right field line. The ball rolled all the way to the bullpen and Gauthier beat the throw to third for a triple. With the infield and outfield playing in, Terrero hit a fly ball to right that was easily deep