Beverly beats Swampscott in NSBL playoff opener

SWAMPSCOTT – After a ruthless downpour Sunday evening forced a day-long delay, the Beverly Recs picked up where they left off on Monday night.Already leading 2-0, the visitors used a three-run third to propel them to a 6-2 victory over the Swampscott Sox at the Forest Ave ball field. The Recs lead the best-of-three North Shore Baseball League playoff series 1-0.Before the rains came on Sunday, Beverly hopped out to the quick lead in the second inning. Matt Burgess (single) and Alex Toomey (double) reached to begin the inning before Jason Hyland delivered a one out, two-run double.Ben Kendrew issued back-to-back walks to load the bases before the sudden storm forced the game to be postponed. When play resumed Monday evening, Swampscott’s Matt Burnham escaped the jam before his offense got on the board.Beverly starter Alex Teal issued walks to both Junior Santos and Elvis Rodriguez to start the third. A passed ball advanced both runners into scoring position. leading to an RBI groundout by Ryan Healey. An RBI single from Dario Medrano knotted the score.The Beverly offense got those runs right back (plus an extra) in its half of the third off of Matt Burnham, on in relief of Kendrew.Dillon Gonzalez led off with a single before Burgess battled hard to earn a walk. On an ensuing bunt from Toomey, Swampscott first baseman Chris Nemeskal couldn’t field the slow roller allowing everybody to reach safely.J.C. Collette followed with a sharp single to third base that glanced off of a diving Elvis Rodriguez, allowing Gonzalez to score. Ethan Trowt and T.J. Larrivee followed with back-to-back RBI singles.The three-run lead would prove to be more than enough for Teal who got stronger and stronger as the night wore on.A one-out double down the right field line by nine-hitter Fred Cole in the fourth was the last hit Teal would surrender. The Beverly righty retired his final ten batters, including four strikeouts.Teal’s final line consisted of seven innings, four hits, six strikeouts and three walks. On the other side, Burnham pitched four and two/thirds, surrendering four runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking just two.The visitors would scrape across an insurance run in their final at bats. Dan Mello reached on a one-out single before advancing to second on a misplay in right field.After advancing to third on a passed ball, Mello scored on a sacrifice fly from Chris Cocci, that was just deep enough to plate Mello on a head first slide.Game two will be played at the same location on Tuesday evening at 7:30. With a win, the Recs would knock out the defending champions. The Sox have won 13 titles in the NSBL’s long and storied history.