South prevails in NEC baseball all-star game

LYNN – After spotting their brethren from the Northeastern Conference North a 4-0 lead, the NEC South all-stars fought back and scored nine unanswered runs, including a six-run top of the seventh inning, to take a 9-5 win at Fraser Field on Tuesday.The North pounded out to its 4-0 lead with a six-hit barrage in the bottom of the third.Peabody’s Casey Grenier started the inning with a walk but was thrown out at third on a double from English’s Ben Bowden. Kyle Devin drove in Bowden for a 1-0 lead.George Tsonis followed with a hit and moved to second on a passed ball that scored Devin for a 2-0 lead. Andy Brown and Dario Medrano, who was 3-for-3, followed with singles that upped the lead to 3-0.Classical’s Kyle Gauthier singled home Brown to give the North a 4-0 lead. The South was held to one hit over the first four innings.Then with one out in the fifth, Danvers’ Scott Hovey singled and Swampscott’s Sean O’Brien followed with a walk. Saugus’ Dan Groark then tripled off the centerfield fence to shave the lead to 4-2. Groark would score on a two-out triple from Ray Arocho that cut the lead to 4-3.The South would complete the comeback in the seventh. Colton Dana started the inning with a double. Marblehead teammate Ryan Stanojev followed with a single and Frank Legere sacrificed Dana home to tie the game at 4-4.Danvers’ Zach Ryan put the South ahead for good as his single scored Stanojev for a 5-4 lead. Ty Kennedy extended the lead to 6-4 with a single with two more runs scoring on errors before Nick Freehling’s hit made it 9-4.The North made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Medrano blasted a solo homer to cut the lead to 9-5. Gauthier and Joe Wioncek followed with singles before Greg Little struck out the final two batters to preserve the win.