Classical baseball uses seventh-inning rally to knock off English

LYNN – It was just another typical baseball game between Lynn Classical and Lynn English on Monday at Fraser Field.After being held in check by Bulldog starter Ben Bowden for six innings, Classical rallied to score twice in the seventh as Joe Rose’s RBI single provided the winning run in a 3-2 Rams victory.”Joe had a huge game for us,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “He comes in and shuts them down in the sixth inning and then gets the game-winning hit in the seventh. That’s pretty amazing for a kid with no varsity experience.”Bowden was in a groove on the mound for English but the Bulldogs (3-3) were held in check by Classical (4-2) starter Jorge Perez for most of the day.”Ben did a great job but (Classical) got the big hit when they needed it and we didn’t,” English coach Joe Caponigro said. “It was a fine high school baseball game.”Bowden surrendered an unearned run in the top of the second before English got two unearned runs off Perez in the third to carry the 2-1 lead into the final frame.Left fielder John Finnigan began the Classical seventh by singling on the first pitch from Bowden. The Rams then played the percentages by having Angel Tavares attempt to sacrifice Finnigan to second.Two bunt attempts, however, were fouled off and Zukowski was forced to take the sacrifice off. The move paid off in a huge way as Tavares lofted a triple into the left field corner, scoring Finnigan just ahead of Junior Santos’ relay throw home.”That was a great at-bat by Angel,” Zukowski said. “He fouls off the bunts but stays with it and gets that big hit to left.”One batter later, Rose brought the Classical fans to their feet when he ripped a ground ball single to left, scoring Tavares with the go-ahead run.Bowden would calm things after that and get the next two Rams to end the rally.Rose then had to return to the mound and deal with the heart of the English lineup in the bottom of the seventh. After getting Santos on a soft fly ball to center, Rose saw Bowden rip a shot down the first base line that was snared by Kyle Gauthier to prevent extra bases.Melvin Cabrera followed with a groundout to short to seal the Classical win.”I don’t mind losing like that,” Caponigro said. “They went out and got the hits and won the game. A lot of credit to them for doing that.”