East Lynn Little League advances in tournament

There’s an old adage in baseball that good pitching and defense will beat good hitting. On Wednesday at Grabowski Field, East Lynn showed that to be very much the case.Keny Sanchez and Richie Winchell combined to hold Salem National to three hits and East Lynn made two spectacular defensive plays in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-1 win in a District 16 elimination game.”Keny has been that way for us all year and Rich came in and finished strong for us,” East Lynn manager Matt Moorehouse said.After being shellacked, 10-1, by Lynnfield in its opener, East Lynn rebounded and used a fast start against the Nats to move on to a date with either Swampscott or Nahant on Tuesday.Salem starter Mike Luciano walked Antonio Felix and Tyler Way to begin the game. After striking out Sanchez, Luciano walked Gerry Ortega to load the bases. Winchell then drove a single to center, bringing Felix and Way home for a 2-0 lead. A walk to Bill Allen followed, knocking Luciano out of the game.Jeffrey Diaz took over and was greeted by an RBI single from Nate Marino that made it 3-0. Winchell was thrown out at home trying to score before Diaz struck out Geovanni Morales to end the inning.”The first inning was big confidence builder for us,” Moorehouse said. “If we had got down early, it might have been over for us.”Sanchez was on his game from the start as he struck out the side around a Ricardo Troncoso single in the first. He then struck out the side in second after Luciano reached on a leadoff error.East Lynn had a chance to extend its lead in the third with runners at second and third with one out but Diaz struck out Moorehouse and Alex Rodriguez to end the inning.It was still a 2-0 game in the fifth when each team had a runner picked off third under circumstances that can only be described as bizarre.In the top of the inning, Sanchez walked, went to second on a passed ball and took third when a throw from short on a grounder hit him in the back. But Sanchez was tagged out when he left the base to thwart the inning.Salem would have a similar fate in the bottom of the fifth when Jack Viselli doubled and was lifted for pinch runner Cedric Guttierrez, who went to third on a passed ball, but was called out when his foot came off the bag.Sanchez would leave two batters later after a Colin Nye single that brought the tying run to the plate. Winchell came in from second and struck out Guthrie Scrimgeour to end the inning.Salem would get a first-pitch homer from Troncoso in the bottom of the sixth, but two spectacular plays from Way and Arias would take away sure base hits and Derek Marquis’ soft liner to third polished off the win.