Classical baseball drops one to Gloucester

LYNN ? If you have any lingering doubts about the legitimacy of the Gloucester High baseball team, get that notion right out of your head now.View Photo GalleryBehind five shutout innings from starting pitcher Drew Shairs and RBI from five different hitters, the Fishermen (11-1) eased past Lynn Classical, 7-1, Friday night, at Fraser Field.”They’re a solid team,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “You know they’re tough kids who are always going to come to play and come to play hard.”The Rams (5-5) got a decent start from Herbie Newton, who was felled by one uncharacteristic wild inning in which he walked four and allowed three runs on just one hit. Gloucester added three more in the fifth and a single run in the seventh.”We got some timely hits tonight, which is a big thing for us,” Gloucester coach Bryan Lafata said. “We’ve done a good job of taking advantage when the other team makes an error, but stringing together three, four, five hits is something we haven’t done a lot of.”Classical’s only run came in the sixth, when Brett Erelli’s double scored Andre Gaudet. The Rams had chances, but left eight runners on base, including five in scoring position.Newton worked out of a jam in the top of the first when he got Shairs to ground out with runners on second and third, but he walked two of the first three batters in the third and then gave up an RBI single to Peter Clark (3-for-3, 2 runs, RBI) for the game’s first run. After Jordan Pallazola walked to load the bases, Shairs hit a ground ball to second. The Rams got the force at second base, but the relay throw to first for a double play was low, and both Devon Murray and Clark scored.In the fifth, Clark blasted a one-out triple to the gap in right center and scored when Pallazola grounded the first pitch up the middle for a single. Justin Avery relieved Newton, and he allowed a walk to Shairs and an RBI single to Bart Margiotta to score Pallazola. One out later, Shairs scored on a single to right by Lukas McRobb.Meanwhile, Shairs was shutting down the Rams at the plate. He didn’t allow a hit until the third, when Andrew Moccia singled up the middle with one out, but Moccia was stranded when Shairs fanned the next two batters.The Rams had runners on first and third with one out, but Shairs retired the next two batters on flyouts, and he got a double play after Matt Stanley led off the fifth with a single to left.”He (Shairs) isn’t going to blow anyone away, but I think he looks so big and scary they think he throws harder than he does,” Lafata said. “But he threw strikes and he did a good job of keeping the ball down.”Erellli’s double with two outs in the sixth off reliever Eric Chalmers finally put the Rams on the board, but Chalmers was able to strand runners on second and third. After Gloucester got an unearned run in the top of the seventh, the Rams again had runners on second and third with one two outs but Filip Mortillaro was able to end the inning without any damage.