Lynn Babe Ruth 14s hope this is the year

With three games coming up this weekend to start the Babe Ruth state tournament, Lynn 14s manager Alex Napoleon is looking for his team to make an impact.”We’ve had some recent success,” Napoleon said on Thursday. “The past couple years, we’ve been runners-up in this tournament. We’ve been in the final a few times.”While he said that he believes the program has won states “a few times,” he added, “In the recent past, we’ve been close but haven’t broken through.”The tournament, which takes place at Adams Field in Quincy, will begin for Lynn with a game against Newton on Saturday at noon. Then it’s on to a morning matchup with Braintree on Sunday (10) and a late-afternoon meeting with Winchester on Monday (4).However, Napoleon plans to get to Quincy today to scout two of his opponents when they play: Newton and Braintree.There are two pools in the tournament, and each team will play three games in pool play. The top four teams overall will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, with the finals scheduled for Thursday.Napoleon praised his pitching staff, which includes Brendan O’Neill, Brandon Devin, Marques O’Neal and Eric Giguere.”We’re deep in pitching,” he said.Meanwhile, on defense, he said, “We’re solid,” citing O’Neill, who plays shortstop when not pitching, along with catcher Dan Hennessey, centerfielder Matt Desilets and left fielder Kyle Morrill.At the plate, Napoleon said it’s “O’Neill again; he’s kind of been our MVP.” He also mentioned Hennessey, Desilets and Joe Tardiff.”I’d say we’re contact-hitting,” he said. “We haven’t struck out a lot. We’re on base. We’ve been aggressive in the strike zone and showed discipline. We don’t help the other pitcher out.”Should Lynn win the state tournament, it would move on to the regionals in Vermont. The World Series takes place in Utah. The tournaments all follow a 20-game regular season.”It breaks down to somewhat of a Little League for bigger kids,” Napoleon said when asked to describe Babe Ruth baseball. “All players are welcome to try out. It’s a good brand of baseball.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].