Felix, Lynn 14’s cruise in opener

DANVERS – If Sunday afternoon’s victory for the Lynn 14-year-old all-star team is any indication of things to come, scoring runs should be no issue this tournament season. With Antonio Felix and Tyler Way leading the charge, the Lynn offense exploded in an 11-4 victory over Salem/Beverly at Twi Field.From their respective one and two spots in the order, the aforementioned duo combined to go 6-9, with three hits and three runs apiece. Felix, a freshman this past season at St. Mary’s, had two RBI and a game-changing catch early on.”He’s just a complete player,” said Lynn coach Steve Moccia. “He plays offense, defense and he can run. He’s a team player, too, and a very intense competitor.”As great as the table-setter was, Moccia stressed that this was a team effort.Lynn got to work quickly on offense, scoring three runs in its half of the first. After back-to-back singles from Felix and Way, the former navigated his way around the bases before scoring on a wild pitch. Kyle Autillio followed with an RBI double to left, scoring Way.Autillio, the Lynn starting pitcher, would score shortly after on a bloop RBI single to right by Andrew Moccia. Salem/Beverly responded in a big way, however, in the second.After a quick and efficient first, Autillio became unglued, allowing three straight hits to open the inning. Wesley Schaejbe doubled to start things before Mark Knowles singled him to third. An RBI single from Paul Gauthier got the visitors on the board.Salem/Beverly starting pitcher Luke Sempieri followed with a groundout to short that scored Knowles. An errant throw to first by Autillio on a squibber by Jack Viselli plated Sempieri before Viselli himself scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single from Ricardo Troncoso.Herb Newton was called upon to settle things down for Lynn, but had it not been for a spectacular play by Felix in center, things could have changed drastically.With two outs and the bases full, Matt Ryan sent a ball to right-center that Felix tracked and caught on a slide before popping up and throwing to first for an inning-ending double play. Lynn not only got the lead right back, scoring four in the second, but virtually put things away in the third when it tacked on three more.”That was huge, the way we responded,” explained Moccia. “We went down but answered their call.”The second started with a walk to Nick Peveri before Felix launched a deep triple to left-center. Way would single in Felix and score on a sacrifice fly from Moccia. Newton, who reached via a walk, scored on a single from Matt Lauria.The third proved nearly as lethal to the visitors’ chances as Lynn got an RBI double from Felix, scoring Peveri, before a perfectly executed bunt single from Way scored the speedy Felix all the way from second. Way came in on a groundout by Newton.Autillio would score the final run in the fifth in an error-filled inning by Salem/Beverly. Meanwhile, Newton found his groove on the mound, allowing just two hits in a fruitless top of the fifth that the visitors couldn’t capitalize on.On his way to the win, Newton fanned six, and walked none.”He did a great job of coming in and shutting them down for the most part,” said Moccia.Lynn (1-0) continues district play on Tuesday against Swampscott/Nahant, again at Twi Field.