English baseball gets upper hand on Classical

LYNN – By defeating city-rival Lynn Classical on Monday morning, the Lynn English baseball team claimed early-season bragging rights in the historically intense season series.The combination of strong pitching from Mike Troy and sensational hitting from Kyle O’Connor, mixed in with the ability to take advantage of several Rams mistakes led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 victory at Fraser Field.”We’re finally starting to figure things out as a team,” said English coach Joe Caponigro. “I thought it all started with Mike today and obviously Kyle had a very special day, but I don’t want to jinx him”Troy went the distance for the “visitors,” scattering five hits over the first three innings (6 total) before retiring 12 straight batters. The righty threw just 84 pitches, striking out five and walking none.On the offensive side of things, O’Connor finished the day at a perfect 5-for-5, singling in his first three trips before a double in the fifth and a triple in the seventh. The leadoff man scored twice and knocked in three runs.”It was a very tough day and we didn’t help ourselves out, but you have to tip your hat to English,” said Classical coach Mike Zukowski. “Troy got stronger as the game went on and O’Connor had a great day as well.”The Rams grabbed a 1-0 lead after one inning, getting a RBI single from Andre Gaudet, scoring Brad Scuzzarella (2 for 3) who reached on an infield single before swiping second base.The hosts committed three errors in the third, helping English (3-2) to three runs.Andrew Napoleon reached on a miscue by shortstop Andrew Moccia to begin the frame before O’Connor reached on a perfectly executed bunt between the mound and first base. Anthony De La Cruz would reach on a fielders’ choice.With Drew Gentile at the plate, Rams starter Raymundo Gomez threw to first, catching De La Cruz off guard. In the ensuing run down, Gaudet’s throw hit the runner in the back, allowing Napoleon to score.O’Connor would follow suit, scoring on Gentile’s infield single to short which forced an error on Moccia whose throw to second sailed into right field, allowing De La Cruz to score as well.”We imploded and pretty much gave up from there,” said Classical coach Mike Zukowski. “Today is something to overcome and it will be interesting to see how we react and who steps up to fix things.”The Rams got one back in the third after a lead-off single from Brett Erelli led to a one-out, RBI single from Scuzzarella. The base hit would be the last for Classical until a seventh inning single from Herbie Newton (2 for 3).Innings four and five saw the Bulldogs score a combined six runs on six hits and two more botched plays, all with two outs.”I was impressed with our ability to take advantage of their mistakes and make things happen with two outs,” said Caponigro. “It’s only one game but I was happy with our play and hopefully it will continue.”The former featured three straight hits, a single from Napoleon before back-to-back RBI base hits from O’Connor and De La Cruz.Gomez issued consecutive walks to Mike Ausiello and Brett Molea before being chased on Kelvin Aracena’s two-run double. Napoleon and O’Connor greeted Joe Taidiff with back to back RBI singles.O’Connor tacked on a run-scoring single in the seventh, plating pinch-hitter Dan Rustani who reached on a walk to begin the frame.