Marblehead comes back to claim Gallant title

SALEM – Very much the unknown commodity coming into the Gallant Tournament, Marblehead proved on Thursday that it belonged with the best that Little League has to offer on the North Shore.Finding itself down four runs to Lynn for a second consecutive game and with Kyle Autilio throwing zeroes on the scoreboard, it seemed that a winner-take-all game was in the offing.But much like its rally on Sunday, Marblehead’s perseverance paid off. Tournament MVP Matt Koopman belted a 3-run homer and James McCarthy provided the difference with a 2-run homer as part of a five-run fifth inning that gave Marblehead a 6-5 win and its first Gallant title since 2002.Click here for a photo gallery.”Our guys just hung in there,” Marblehead manager Steve Tubridy said. “This group really worked well together and they dug deep and came back once again.”Much of the credit for the comeback also goes to reliever Spencer Carr, who came in and put the clamps on Lynn’s potent lineup en route to being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Pitcher.”Spencer seemed to be getting stronger as the innings went along,” Tubridy said.Marblehead jumped on top in the first thanks to three walks and a wild pitch with two outs that brought McCarthy home for a 1-0 lead. Lynn responded with two runs in the top of the second on RBI from Lenny Ryan and Tyler Way.Autilio then proceeded to put the cuffs on the Marblehead offense as he surrendered one hit over the first four innings. Carr entered in place of Crew Whittier in the fourth but would run into a major snag in the fifth.Brendan Powicki singled with one out and promptly swiped second. After a strikeout, Autilio ripped a single to left that was misplayed, allowing Powicki to score for a 3-1 lead. Herbie Newton then belted a 2-run shot, his sixth of the tourney, to give Lynn a 5-1 lead.”I really thought we had a good chance at that point,” Lynn manager Jeff Earp said.Things were still looking promising for Lynn with one out and a runner at first for Marblehead in the bottom half of the fifth. But a walk to Dave Campbell proved to be pivotal as Koopman lined his homer to left to cut the lead to 5-4 in a flash.Timmy Kalinowski followed with a sharp single to right before Autilio made one of his few bad pitches of the night as McCarthy made him pay with a 2-run dinger for a 6-5 lead.”Kyle really did pitch well,” Lynn coach Leon Elwell said. “He made a couple of mistakes and they hit them.”Carr would do the rest for Marblehead as he retired the final six Lynn batters in order to clinch the title.”We were down four runs to a very good team twice in a row and these guys showed the willpower they have by coming back,” Tubridy said.Lynn second baseman Tyler Way was named the recipient of the tournament’s top defensive player award after recording a perfect fielding percentage on 11 chances.