Peabody baseball ends postseason slump against Boston Latin

PEABODY – There were two motivating factors that the Peabody baseball squad used to prepare for this past Saturday’s first-round Division 1 North matchup with Boston Latin.One of those factors was infielder Jimmy Leavitt dislocating his kneecap in the team’s final regular-season game.”We had talked before the game about playing the game for him,” said Tanners coach Mark Bettencourt. “We want to keep playing, so that he has a chance to play in the tourney.”And, oh yes, there was a small matter of not having won a postseason game since 2007.”That fact was on the back of our minds as well,” said Bettencourt, whose club had been eliminated by Newton North in 2008 and Lowell last year. “We wanted to get rid of that stigma.”Peabody (17-6) did that by blasting the Wolfpack, 11-1, at the Bezemes Baseball Diamond. The Tanners will next face Lawrence this afternoon.The Tanners took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Designated hitter Genaro Ciulla reached on an error, stole second, then reached third on a wild pitch. Bobby Losanno was then caught in a rundown, between first and second, but the throw by pitcher Brian Mylette deflected off the glove of second baseman Kevin McDonough, and Ciulla scored.Peabody added three runs in the second. Stephen Girolamo led off with a single, then advanced to second when the ball got past center fielder Brian Connolly. Derrik Pereira beat out a sacrifice bunt that moved Girolamo to third, and Wesley Sanders singled on Mylette’s first pitch to bring in Girolamo for the Tanners’ second run. Ciulla (2-for-4) doubled, scoring Pereira to make it 3-0. Sanders scored on a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead.The Wolfpack (13-8) closed the gap in the top of the third. Righty Joey Gruntkowsky issued a one-out walk to third baseman Malcolm Machmanoff. Gruntkowsky attempted to pick him off, but the ball sailed past first baseman Ryan Noftle, and Machmanoff ended up on second. He crossed the plate on shortstop Brad Pettipas’s single (the second and final hit allowed by Gruntkowsky) to bring Boston Latin to within 4-1.Peabody put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth. Pereira walked to lead off, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ciulla singled, with Pereira scoring. Singles by Losanno and Ramses Vittini loaded the bases. Myette got a full count on Gruntkowsky, but he drove a fastball just out of the grasp of Connolly, and all three baserunners scored. Gruntkowsky came home on a sacrifice fly for a 9-1 lead.Gruntkowsky (7-2) allowed three baserunners (all on walks) the rest of the way (he worked the first seven innings).”He was just dynamite,” said Boston Latin coach Rene Gauthier of Gruntkowsky, who was the MVP of the Northeastern Conference this season. “You need to have a guy that can throw in the 80’s (in the tourney). He’s certainly the real deal.”The Tanners closed the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sanders had an RBI double to drive across Pereira, while Losanno added a sacrifice fly that brought in Sanders with the game’s final run.”There were three keys for us today,” said Bettencourt. “We wanted to throw strikes, play good defense, and have timely hitting. We didn’t know much about Boston Latin (coming into the game), but we wanted to attack them with strikes in their first at-bats, then position ourselves accordingly during their second and third at-bats. Our defense made the plays, and we had solid production (14 hits) up and down the lineup. We spread the field, and had several two-strike hits.”