North Shore Phillies on brink of NSBL title

The North Shore Phillies of the North Shore Baseball League are on the brink of their first-ever title.The Phillies rode the heavy hitting of Kyle Shepard (bases-clearing double in the fourth inning to break the game open) and the pitching of Ed Deren to defeat the Kingston Night Owls, 12-4, Sunday at Breed’s Middle School’s Clancy Field in Lynn.Rick Vail also clubbed a two-run homer over the left-field fence, and Jairo Valdez had two bunt singles and scored two runs.Deren, a lefty pitcher who attends Salem State, “was really effective,” in his five innings, manager Chris Carroll said. “Kingston has six left-handed hitters in the lineup, and he kept them off balance.”The win gives North Shore a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. A win tonight (8 p.m. at Haverhill Stadium) would give the Phillies their first-ever NSBL championshop. A loss brings the series back to the Lynn area Wednesday, at either Breed or Swampscott Middle School, at a time to be determined.North Shore will send NSBL Cy Young winner Corey Moore to the mound tonight.Kingston had evened the series at 2-2 Saturday with a 4-3 extra-inning win. Sean Buckland went all nine innings for North Shore, “and was very effective,” Carroll said. “He was outstanding.”Carroll tripled in a run in the top of the fourth inning that tied the score at 2-2, at the time. Danny Duval knocked in him with a single. However, Kingston tied the score in the bottom of the inning thanks to a controversial call at first base that resulted in a couple of North Shore ejections. A Kingston single in the bottom of the ninth won it for the Night Owls.