Roundup: Peabody baseball clinches NEC Large title

In one of the crazier seasons in Northeastern Conference Large baseball, a crown was placed upon the heads of the Peabody squad. The Tanners earned that honor after defeating Revere 8-1 yesterday.”We never were really in the conversation (for winning the title) at the beginning of the season,” Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt said. “For good reason, Beverly and English had a lot of very talented kids returning. But our kids accepted the challenge and came through.”Nick Allen picked up the win on the mound in his first career varsity start. He pitched a complete game allowing five hits, while striking out five and walking none.”Nick was phenomenal today,” said Bettencourt. “He was throwing all three pitches for strikes and did a nice job settling down when he got into trouble.”Joey Gruntkosky hit a double and a triple, knocking in a run. Peter Sucharewicz went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Ryan McCarthy hit a three-run double to break the game open.Danvers 2, Gloucester 0At Gloucester, the Falcons (13-5, 11-5) pulled off a worst-to-first one-year transition, wrapping up the NEC Small title.”We have had some very good teams and won some championships over the years,” Danvers coach Roger Day said. “But I’ve never seen a team improve this much in a year. It was amazing.”Greg Ladd brought his personal record to 8-0 on the season, striking out four while allowing three hits. He also scored a run on a Mike Harris single. Kyle Larson hit a home run in the first inning.Marblehead 3, Swampscott 2At Marblehead, Rob Pollack pitched a complete game for the Magicians, allowing two earned runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking two. The Big Blue tied the game up in the sixth, but Marblehead’s Will Quigley capped off a fine 3-for-3 performance at the plate with a game-winning RBI triple.The Magicians (9-10) will play Salem on Saturday for a spot in the tournament. Evan Comeau will be on the mound.Beverly 6, Salem 5At Salem, the Panthers rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to earn the win. Felix Zamot hit a pair of doubles and scored a pair of runs, while knocking in one. Mitch Hamor had a pair of singles and an RBI. Chris Mitchell picked up the win throwing two-and-one-third innings of relief.Beverly (10-8) clinched a spot in the tournament with the win.Saugus 18, Winthrop 6At Saugus, the Sachems (5-14) scored 16 runs in the first inning. Dominic DiPesa had a strong performance on the mound. Saugus can earn a spot in the tournament with a win over Pope John on Friday.BOYS LACROSSESt. John’s 9, Medfield 8 (OT)At Danvers, the Prep finished the regular season campaign with an overtime victory. Jimmy O’Connell scored the winner with 17 seconds remaining in the overtime period. After O’Connell’s first shot struck the post, he was able to corral the rebound and score to give the Prep the win and big momentum heading into the state tournament. O’Connell finished with two goals for the game.Matt Scalise came up big in the fourth quarter for the Eagles (16-2), scoring three goals to help St. John’s erase a four-goal deficit with three minutes remaining.”(Scalise) gave a great effort,” said St. John’s coach John Roy. “It was a memorable performance and a great moment.Peabody 13, Gloucester 10At Peabody, five consecutive goals to open the third quarter propelled the Tanners from a 7-5 halftime deficit to a 10-7 lead. For Peabody (6-12) Greg Celantano, Mark D’Addario, and Steve Kozinski each had a hat trick in the win. In their final game of the season, Jay Ouelette made 17 saves in net while Matt Rodgers, Corey Cronin, Jay Connolly and Nick Ouelette all recorded a goal apiece.