Peabody American tops Swampscott in extras

LYNN – Swampscott and Peabody American’s 12-year-old all-stars came into Thursday night’s match up at Lynn’s Volunteer Field boasting undefeated records? so by night’s end, that would change for one of the teams.Neither team seemed to play as if that mattered, however. And although the Americans would eventually triumph 7-6, Swampscott made sure its opponents would remember this game for quite some time.It took eight innings for Peabody to lock up the victory that seemed all but certain in the fifth when it struck for four runs.Back-to-back singles from Ryan Newbury and Kyle Henitosh led to an RBI single from starting pitcher Frank CeLona (5-5, 2 RBI), which tied the game at 2. An RBI double from clean-up hitter Alex Gomes scored CeLona soon after.Some sloppy defense from Swampscott allowed the fourth run of the inning to score and a tight contest suddenly looked like a wash.CeLona would have his fingerprints all over the game by night’s end, turning in a complete game effort in just about every way. In addition to the aforementioned stats, CeLona pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run and striking out four. Two of his five hits went for doubles.”I was getting a lot of first-pitch curveballs in the dirt, so I was trying to wait on the fastball later in the count,” said CeLona. While Swampscott might not have been too familiar with CeLona’s ability, Peabody head coach Don Shaw has witnessed plenty to describe his player’s talent.”Frank does it all for us. He pitches, catches and is a great hitter obviously? he just loves playing ball,” said Shaw.With CeLona pitching a strong game, Swampscott would need help from the whole line-up and a little luck to make up the runs and that’s exactly what it got in the bottom half of the fifth.Caleb Mazow and Ryan Donnelly produced back-to-back base hits at the bottom of the order, before Jack Morretti loaded them with a single of his own.With two outs, Owen Madigan-Fried grounded a ball toward shortstop. Donnelly was able to provide enough of a distraction while running (curiously slowly), allowing Madigan-Fried to beat out the infield single. Gavin Sullivan followed with a rip up the middle, bringing home two and tying the game.The score would hold up and the lights would have to go on as both teams settled in for extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Peabody finally broke through.After some confusion over the count on No. 9 hitter Derek Dellisola, the left fielder earned a walk. With two outs, Henitosh ripped an opposite field triple, plating Dellisola. CeLona followed with an RBI infield single for a two-run cushion.Swampscott put up a fight again; scoring one in the final frame but ultimately fell. Swampscott (2-1) falls into the losers’ bracket and play the winner of Peabody West vs. Peabody National Sunday at 4 p.m, at a time to be announced.Peabody American remains undefeated and will take on Wyoma on Saturday at 5 p.m., at a site to be determined.