Baseball: Peabody clinches NEC North

The Peabody baseball team was able to defeat a hot Salem team, 5-2, at Peabody Wednesday night. The Tanners clinched their eighth straight NEC North title.”This is always a goal of ours,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “It is nice we were able to reach this one, but we have bigger goals in our sights to accomplish.”It was a 0-0 stalemate until the bottom of the fifth. Peabody received clutch RBI singles from Matt Correale and Sean McGrath, which helped push Peabody to a 4-0 lead. The Tanners had a 5-1 lead going into the top of the seventh. Salem loaded the bases with no outs against starting pitcher Brandon Butcher, who was on cruise control until the last inning (6 innings, 4 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 runs, 1 earned). Matt McIsaac came in for a relief appearance and retired the next three batters to preserve the victory. Correale led the Tanner offense (2-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored). Christian Morales and McGrath both had two hits each for Peabody. The Tanners are 16-2.English 5, Revere 2At Revere, English senior pitcher Matt Merritt started the game, but was only able to go the first two innings due to illness (2 innings, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts). Junior Michael Troy came in for Merritt in relief, and had his best performance of the season (5 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts, 0 walks). English trailed 2-1 at the end of the fourth inning. The Bulldogs (7-8) outscored the Patriots 4-0 in the final three innings.Saugus 7, Gloucester 3At Gloucester, Sachem Dante DelTorto led off the game with a solo home run, which helped set the tone. In the second inning, DelTorto hit another home run (two-run homer) and Jaycub Lever hit an RBI double to give the Sachems a comfortable 5-0 lead. DelTorto finished with three hits and three RBI. Kory Dominick was on the mound for Saugus and recorded the win (6 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 3 strikeouts, 5 walks). Saugus (9-8) is a win away from qualifying for the states.Swampscott 13, Winthrop 3At Winthrop, the Big Blue (8-9) qualified for the state tournament (Sullivan rule) with Al Wallace turning in a strong performance on the mound. He went the distance, allowing two earned runs, striking out eight and not issuing a walk.Ryan January (3-for-4, home run, 2 RBI); Robert Serino (2-for-4, walk, home run) and Nunzio Morretti (2-for-3, walk) supplied the firepower at the plate. Swampscott scored five runs in the third and four in the fourth inning.Danvers 5, Marblehead 1At Danvers, Falcon Dan Connors robbed Marblehead of an early first-inning lead, and Danvers went on to score two runs in the bottom of the first. The Magicians cut the Danvers lead in half in the top of the third (2-1), but the Falcons scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to pump the lead to three (4-1). Falcon pitcher Raf Tyler took care of the Marblehead offense (7 innings, 4 hits, 1 unearned run, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk). Tyler Dustin had two hits and an RBI, and Connors had two hits to go along with his solid defense for Danvers (16-1).St. John’s 12, Everett 0At Danvers, the Eagles’ (16-1) contributors included: Tom Buonopane, 2-for-2 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored; Keith Leavitt (single, double, 2 RBI, run); Paul Crehan (2-for-3, 2 RBI); Bailey Klein (double, run); and Alex Moore (RBI single, 2 runs).Justin Snyder went four innings, striking out eight, allowing one hit and walking one. Jack Krasovec finished up in relief. The Eagles, who have won 16 straight games, play Malden Catholic Monday at 4 p.m.