Baseball: English falls short against Salem

The English baseball team had an early lead against NEC rival Salem Wednesday night. Salem was able to come from behind and hold off a feisty English team, 4-3, at Salem State.The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, keyed by a Ben Bowden RBI single. Salem scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to forge ahead, 3-2. Salem added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning (4-2) that became very important. English was able to get a run in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to one (4-3). In the top of the seventh inning, English had runners on first and third with two outs. The Bulldogs attempted a double steal, but Drew Gentile (runner at third) was thrown out at the plate to end the game.”It was just one of those games,” said English coach Joe Caponigro. “We were just a little out of sync today, but the effort was there, and that is all I can ask.”Dana Stevens started the game on the hill for English (4 innings, 4 runs, 3 hits, 5 strikeouts) and Matt Merritt came in for a relief appearance (2 innings, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs). English is now 6-7.Classical 7, Revere 1At Fraser Field, Jorge Perez was on the hill for Classical, and stymied the Revere offense (7 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, 1 run, 1 walk). The Rams took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, keyed by RBI singles from Kyle Devin and Michael Crisostomo. The Patriots scored one in the top of the fourth inning to cut the deficit in half (2-1). Classical answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, keyed by a Brad Scuzzarella two-run double. Classical added three runs in the fifth inning to pull away from Revere. Crisostomo, Devin, and Damien Earp all went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored for the Rams. Classical improved its record to 5-8.Beverly 6, Peabody 1At Beverly, Peabody stud pitcher Pat Ruotolo was slated to start against Beverly. The Tanners batted in the top of the first inning, but then the rain came. The weather caused an hour delay to the game, but Ruotolo took the mound after the delay. He got out of the first inning with no problems, but in the second inning Ruotolo surrendered a solo home run and a single to back-to-back batters. After Ruotolo gave up the single, he left the game with shoulder stiffness. Brandon Butcher relieved Ruotolo. It was a 1-1 game until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Panthers put up five runs in the frame. Peabody’s Steve Leavitt had a strong performance at the plate (2-3, run scored). Beverly pitcher Alex Toomey stole the show (7 innings, 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 run). Toomey also went 3-3 at the plate with a home run (off Ruotolo). Harry Brown, Anthony DiOrio (two-run home run) and John Berchoff all had multi-hit games for the Panthers (10-4).Danvers 8, Swampscott 2At Swampscott, the Big Blue (5-9) trailed 5-0 at the end of the fifth inning and could never fully recover. Trevor Massey hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to get Swampscott on the board. Robert Serino had a solid day at the dish for Swampscott (2-3, walk).PCSS 12, KIPP 6Pioneer Charter scored single runs in the first and third innings. In the second inning, KIPP’s Cody Mullen hit a solo homer to put the Panthers on the scoreboard. In the top of the fourth, the Panthers broke open the offense, scoring five runs to pull ahead 6-2. Pioneer Charter came right back, however, scoring 10 runs, assisted by multiple walks and errors.Mullen was 2-3, with a homer, single and an RBI.KALC is now 2-2 overall in the MCSAO league.