Rams prove they’re the real deal

LYNN – They aren’t upstarts anymore ? they are the real deal.The Lynn Classical baseball team now finds itself seven innings away from an improbable Division 2 North championship after the 15th seeded Rams upset No. 3 seed Danvers, 7-3, on Wednesday night at Fraser Field to move to Saturday’s final at LeLacheur Park in Lowell against either North Andover or Gloucester.”We came in (Wednesday) and said that if you were afraid to lose, than nothing was going to happen,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “These kids have the biggest hearts and I am so proud of this team.”The Rams (13-10) had to face adversity for the first time in the tournament as the Falcons (18-5) put three runs up on Kyle Gauthier in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, Classical’s first deficit of the postseason.True to its newfound character, though, Classical fought back and took the game back away from the NEC South champions.”Give Classical a lot of the credit. They hit the ball,” Danvers coach Roger Day said. “We competed and played hard and had a chance in the fifth to win it.”Danvers had taken the lead in the third thanks to a pair of two-out hits from Dan Connors and Zach Ryan. The Rams returned that favor in the top of the fifth.Wilfredo Feliz led the inning off being hit by a Ryan curveball. He went to second on a passed ball and then swiped third base. But there he stood with two outs before Angel Tavares ripped a single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.Tavares then pilfered second and first baseman Ryan Hayward delivered what proved to be the winning hit when he singled to give the Rams a 4-3 lead.”We got up two quick and then got a little comfortable,” Zukowski said. “And sure enough they came back and got three. But my kids dug so deep and got timely hits.”Gauthier had been shelled for five hits and the three Falcon runs in the third. As it turned out, those would be the last hits Danvers got in the game as the junior stonewalled the Falcons the rest of the way.Day called on Scott Hovey, pitching for the third time in the tournament, to relieve Ryan and he worked a perfect sixth before the roof caved in for Danvers in the seventh.Feliz walked and stole second. Kyle Devin was intentionally walked before John Finnigan doubled to right, scoring Feliz to make it 5-3. Tavares followed with a walk to load the bases.A flyout from Hayward was followed by a Greg Rybak 2-run single through a drawn-in infield to give the Rams a 7-3 lead.Gauthier made short work of the Falcons in the home half of the seventh to send his team to Lowell.