MIAA Roundup: Marblehead baseball rallies to stay alive in tournament

Trailing 1-0 after three innings, the Marblehead baseball team could have started panicking; after all, a loss would end its tournament run. However, as they have done in nine of their last 11 games, the Magicians found a way to get the job done, defeating Arlington, 8-3, at Spy Pond Field in Arlington.A seven-run fourth inning backed by a solid start from pitcher Braden Engstrom (5 1/3, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 strikeouts) was enough to advance Marblehead to the quarterfinals on Monday. Arlington finishes at 12-9.The Magicians sent 11 men to the plate in the fourth inning including Colton Dana (2-4, run) who doubled in two runs and Eric Lundgren (3-3, double) who added an RBI single. Both Brian Daly and Kyle Forsgard drew bases loaded walks to drive in runs.”We got contributions from up and down the lineup today,” said coach Jason Tarasuik. “We had seven different guys score runs, which is great to see. We’re really clicking right now.”Jeremy Meyer added an RBI sacrifice fly (in the fourth) while Casey Stead finished the game with three drawn walks and two runs. In total, the Magicians took eight free passes.”We were patient at the plate today, which turned out to be a key to victory for us,” said Tarasuik.The win marked the first postseason victory for Marblehead since 2003. The Magicians await the winner of North Andover and Tewksbury, the latter being the team that knocked the Magicians out of last year’s tournament.Fenwick 6, Newburyport 5At Newburyport, the Crusaders put it all together to knock off the defending Division 3 state champion, although it took nine innings to do it.”It’s what we’ve been working for the first 21 games,” coach Kevin Canty said. “We executed everything to the best of our ability.”Canty said his team bunted well and got clutch hits with two outs and men in scoring position. The Crusaders also got an excellent pitching performance by Kevin Church (7 2/3 innings, 5 runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts).”He just battled all day,” Canty said about Church. “He had a good fastball and a good curveball. He had a little trouble with his change, but he just battled.”Andrew Lessard came on in relief with two outs and runners on first and second and got out of the jam. Joe LeVasseur closed it out in the ninth.Fenwick scored the go ahead run in the top of the ninth when Mike MacKenzie walked to lead off, stole second, advanced on a grounder and scored on a wild pitch. In the fourth inning, Joe LeVasseur had a two-out single to cut Newburyport’s lead to 4-2 and in the fifth, Brian Burke singled in two runs to tie the game at 4-4. In the sixth, trailing 5-4, LeVasseur had an RBI single to tie the game at 5-5.Fenwick (11-11) is waiting on the winner of Saturday’s Watertown-Whittier Tech game.Beverly 3, Belmont 0At Beverly, the fifth seeded Panthers rode a complete game four-hitter (1 walk), and game-winning RBI single from Cam Rogers to a first round victory over No. 13 seed Belmont.”Cam had great control all game long and our defense played terrific. It was a solid performance from top to bottom,” said coach Dave Wilbur.Beverly third baseman Alex Toomey finished with two hits. The Panthers (15-6) play Gloucester (11-10) on Monday.Westford 12, Salem 1At Salem State, the Witches were “totally overwhelmed” by the Ghosts, who got off to a torrid start, scoring six runs in the first on five hits (16 total).”It was a tough end to a fine, fine season,” said Salem coach Jim Tgettis. “The kids were a joy to coach and they gave it everything they had all season.”Junior Greg Spelliotis was a bright spot for Salem, finishing with two hits and scoring Salem’s lone run.Danvers 4, Woburn 1At Danvers, Scott Hovey had a big day with the bat and on the mound as the No. 2 Falcons advanced to the quarterfinals. Hovey went 2-3, with a home run and three RBI while pitching a complete game, scattering three hits and finishing with 10 strikeouts.Tyler Dustin and A.J. Couto finished with two hits apiece for Danvers, while teammate Joe Strangie added