Baseball: Saugus wins sixth straight

The Saugus baseball team has found a way to turn its season around over the past couple weeks, and that trend continued Wednesday night against English. The Sachems defeated the Bulldogs 7-1 at Saugus, which was their sixth win in a row.The Sachems held a 2-1 lead at the end of the fifth inning. Saugus (7-4) put up a five spot on the board in the bottom of the sixth to break the game wide open. Sachem Tom Trainor led off inning with a double. Dominic DiPesa singled him in. Shane Ripley (3-run) and Jaycub Lever hit back-to-back home runs.”Can’t complain about the way they’ve been playing,” said Saugus coach Tom Gaeta. “They have been playing real well for a long stretch now and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”Saugus pitcher Kory Dominick was dominant from his first pitch all the way to his last (7 innings, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 run). Dominick was able to keep English off the board until the fifth inning.The Bulldogs put together a couple of hits and a stolen base to score their run. Senior Dana Stevens was on the hill for English, and pitched well despite the result. The Bulldogs (4-6) will look to rebound on Friday when they square off against Winthrop.Peabody 3, Danvers 2At Danvers, this had the makings of a classic, and it lived up to the hype. The Falcons (11-2) got off to a fast start, as they were able to score two early runs off Peabody stud pitcher Pat Ruotolo. Falcon Danny Connors hit an RBI single that scored A.J. Couto, and Connors later scored on a passed ball (2-0 Danvers). Ruotolo settled down and Danvers would not score another run for the rest of the game. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Peabody had two outs with runners on second and third, with Brandon Polignone in the batter’s box. Polignone hit a two-out, two-run single, which tied the game 2-2. The game needed extra innings to be decided, and Matt McIsaac took the game into his own hands. McIsaac led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a triple off the centerfield wall. The Danvers centerfielder missed the cutoff man and McIsaac scored on the errant throw to end the game. Peabody’s Ruotolo started the game on the hill (8 innings, 7 hits, 15 strikeouts, 2 walks, 2 runs, 1 earned), and McIsaac relieved Ruotolo (3 innings, 2 hits, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 runs). Peabody (11-1) has now qualified for the state tournament.Matignon 6, St. Mary’s 3At Fraser Field, Matignon scored two runs in the sixth to take a 2-1 lead. St. Mary’s answered in the home half of the sixth and tied the game 2-2. The game was forced into extras and Matignon scored one in the top of the eighth inning. The Spartans answered in the bottom of the eighth when Clay Yianacopolus hit an RBI single that scored Dan Donovan to tie the game 3-3. Matignon scored three runs in the top of the 10th. Spartan pitcher Brendan Deleire had a strong performance (9 innings, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks). The duo of Ryan Madden (2-4, run scored) and Victor Molle (2-4, triple, RBI) led the way for the Spartan (6-5) offense.Marblehead 1,Revere 0At Marblehead, the Magicians scored their lone run in the first inning, and that was more than enough run support for pitcher John Cavolina. Cavolina pitched a five-hitter, walked six, and surrendered zero walks and runs. Opposing pitcher Tommy Portrait almost matched Cavolina pitch for pitch (6 innings, 3 hits, 1 run). Marblehead snapped its three-game losing streak (4-7).Fenwick 3, Spellman 0At Fenwick, it was a 0-0 stalemate until the bottom of the sixth inning, where Fenwick had its first three batters reach. Nick Bona led off with a single, Gianni Esposito followed with a walk and Brian Burke reached on an infield single. With zero outs, and senior Joe Levasseur at the plate, Spellman threw a wild pitch and botched a rundown situation to give Fenwick all three of its runs, with Levasseur never having to lift the bat off his shoulder. Levasseur was on the hill for the Crusaders (9-2) and was very efficient (7 innings, 2 hit