Classical baseball keeps tourney hopes alive with late rally

BEVERLY – The Lynn Classical baseball team came to Cooney Field on Monday knowing full well there was no wiggle room if it wanted to remain alive for a state tournament berth.Needing to win their final four games, the Rams were down to their final three outs against Beverly, trailing 4-1 and facing a pitcher in Kyle Johnson that had shut them down most of the game. But a 2-run homer from John Finnigan got Classical going and the Rams later took advantage of two critical errors to plate five runs and steal away a 6-4 win from the Panthers.Click here for a photo gallery.”I’ve said it so many times, but this team works so hard and doesn’t give up,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “We can’t lose if we want to get in and they played like they want to be there.”Johnson had breezed relatively harmlessly through the first six innings, striking out nine and walking none while holding Classical to five hits.The seventh, though, started on an ominous note as Buddy Ford was hit by a pitch. Johnson got the next batter before No. 9 hitter Finnigan made it a game when he blasted a 2-run homer over the left field fence to cut the lead to 4-3.”Johnny came up from the JV’s seven or eight games ago and has been swinging the bat very well,” Zukowski said. “And that was a good at-bat. He waited for a pitch he could handle and drove it like we practice.”Wilfredo Feliz followed with a single to right, knocking Johnson from the game. Chris Mitchell took over on the mound.Kyle Gauthier reached when a routine fly ball in center was dropped to open the door for the Rams a little more. Mitchell got Eddie Terrero on a popup for the second out before Ellido Reyes doubled down the line in left to tie the game at 4-4.Kyle Devin then reached when his grounder to second was thrown away, scoring Reyes and Gauthier to make it 6-4, Classical.Greg Rybak, who was brilliant in relief of Tyler Gauthier, took the mound and worked around an Ethan Trowt single by getting Austin Butler to ground into a game-ending double play to short.”Greg came in and was huge for us,” Zukowski said. “He stepped up and just threw strikes and we made the plays behind him we needed to.”Classical (7-10) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Feliz led off the game with a double and scored on Terrero’s one-out double. Beverly rallied in the bottom of the second, scoring a pair of unearned runs on two Classical errors.An inning later, Rybak made his lone mistake of the game and Trowt planted it over the centerfield fence to increase the Panther lead to 3-1 as Johnson was settling into a groove.Classical loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth before Johnson struck out Tyler Gauthier and Joe Scuzzarella. Terry Finnigan was then called out for interfering with Johnson when the two collided as the Beverly pitcher was chasing a popup in foul ground.The Panthers added a run in the fifth when Trowt doubled and scored on a Joe Wioncek single.