Lynnfield struggles against Masconomet

BOXFORD – Saturday morning?s gloomy conditions effectively summed up the eventual outcome of the Lynnfield baseball team?s loss to Masconomet, a 13-3 loss punctuated by seven errors.The visitors put together a strong first inning resulting in a 1-0 lead before the Chieftains scored at least once in innings two through six, including a four-run third and five runs in their final trips to the plate.Three Pioneer pitchers combined to walk nine batters on the rain-soaked and windy afternoon.?Masco had to play in the same weather as we did, so we can?t look for excuses,” explained Lynnfield coach John O?Brien. “We made a few mistakes in the field and they were able to take advantage of them and come up with some clutch hitting. I give them full credit for that.”After two quick outs to start the game, Chieftains starter Joe Kungensmith surrendered a single to Jordan Roper, who moved up on an ensuing passed ball. Dan O?Leary drew a free pass before a base hit from Traverse Briana led to an RBI single from Jake Rourke.O?Leary was thrown out trying to score by right fielder Greg Dougherty.?I thought we hit the ball pretty well in the early going,” said O?Brien, whose team was held hitless from the second inning on until two hits in the fifth and sixth. “Their pitchers threw strikes and moved the ball around the strike zone on us. We struck out 11 times, though, and that?s never acceptable.”The first ugly sign of things to come for Lynnfield came in the second when Chris Rich?s leadoff ground ball to third got past O?Leary.Rich would score from third after Briana?s trick-throw to second baseman Nick Pascucci sailed into center. Dan Dempsey moved up to second on the defensive indifference before being thrown out by Briana, attempting to steal third.The hosts? four-run third featured a walk to Dougherty before consecutive singles from Kungensmith and Mike Manni, the latter bringing in the go-ahead run before Kungensmith scored when the ball got through Rourke in left.Briana?s second errant throw, identical to the first, allowed Manni to come across before Rich plated Tommy Budrewwicz, who had reached on a throwing error by Pascucci, with a sacrifice fly.?I know our starting pitcher (Andrew Carbone) was having some trouble gripping the baseball and that seemed to be the case with our fielders as well,” said O?Brien.Masco added a solo run (Dougherty RBI single) in the fourth and a pair in the fifth, helped along by two more miscues and an RBI single from Sam Hamburger.With Rourke on in relief to start the sixth, consecutive walks to Dougherty and Kungensmith (scored on wild pitch) preceded singles from Manni and Budrewwicz (run scoring). Two more free passes to Rich and Dempsey sandwiched a sacrifice fly from Will Twiss.Budrewwicz and Rich would both score on wild pitches before the inning was over.The Pioneers grabbed a pair of runs in the seventh, assisted by the Chieftains? first errors of the game.Lynnfield (6-3) has a busy week ahead, with games at Saugus (Tuesday) and North Reading (Thursday) before a home game against Newburyport on Saturday.?It?s a big week for us and one we need to get back on track,” said O?Brien.