Pine Hill climbs past Lynn Shore in City Series

LYNN – This past weekend, the Pine Hill Little League all-stars fell to Wyoma via the “mercy rule,” scoring only once in six innings. The Reds? bats didn?t wait very long to make up for Saturday?s game, rebounding on Wednesday evening against Lynn Shore at Chris Spagnoli Field in City Series action.After jumping out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to a big second inning, Pine Hill stayed glued together as Lynn Shore cut the deficit to just one run after five innings. Pine Hill added a couple insurance runs in the final inning to escape with a thrilling 8-6 victory.?That was huge for us, especially after our last game, where we stranded a lot of runners, to jump out to an early lead,” said Pine Hill manager Pete Dow of his offense?s quick start. “We stranded two in the first but they responded big-time and most of those runs came with two outs.”The six-run outburst started with one out as Mike Kaczmarek grounded a single through the right side before Cormac Collins reached on a misplay at first base, which allowed Kaczmarek to score from second base.After a Miguel Segura strikeout, Dan Lilja ripped an RBI double to left-center, scoring Collins. Aidan Dow followed with a walk before Mike Leavitt recorded an RBI single. Lynn Shore starting pitcher Dayshon Anderson would then walk Eusabio Quintana before being removed.D.J. Dicenso greeted reliever Kendrick Francois to the game with a two-run single before Luke Rao, who led off the inning, drew a free pass. Francois caught Kaczmarek looking to end things.The Pine Hill offense went silent for the next three innings while a determined Lynn Shore fought its way back. A three-run third kick-started the rally with Anderson being the focal point.Anderson delivered an RBI single, scoring Francois, leading to his steal of second that drew a throw, allowing Brayan Rodriguez to scamper home from third. Anderson followed with a rare steal of home, beating the throw home from Lilja, the Pine Hill starter.Lynn Shore got two more in the fifth, the first on an RBI double from Anderson that scored Rodriguez, who led off with a single. After advancing to third on the throw home, Anderson scored on a groundout by Elias McDonald.With its lead in jeopardy, Pine Hill tacked on two much-needed insurance runs in its final at-bats. Dow and Leavitt reached on back-to-back infield singles to start the inning before Rao delivered a clutch two-out, two-run double down the right field line.?We have a resilient bunch, and they stayed focused when Lynn Shore came back,” explained Dow. “All year long we have played back-and-forth games, but the kids always stick together and their attitudes stay the same. They knew it wasn?t over after the second and kept playing.”Rao came on to close things out on the mound, getting the first two batters on swinging strikeouts before Lynn Shore attempted one last rally. Kendrick reached on a misplay at shortstop before Rodriguez and Anderson (intentional) reached on walks.A third straight walk to McDonald plated Kendrick before Dow bore down and got Francisco DeLeon swinging to end the game. Pine Hill advances, playing Friday evening against East Lynn. Pine Hill is hosting the entire City Series at Gallagher Park.