Baseball: Lynnfield is CAL champ in threepeat

For the third straight season, the Lynnfield baseball team can call itself the Cape Ann League champion after claiming the conference crown with a 4-3 walkoff win on Monday afternoon against Ipswich.Ryan Battaglia led off the final frame with a triple before coming across on a sacrifice fly, fittingly off the bat of senior captain Jack Fraulini.?Winning the CAL title three straight seasons is an impressive accomplishment,” lauded coach John O?Brien, whose team is 13-4 in league play. “Our guys should be very proud of themselves. They?ve had a great season so far and hopefully the success continues going forward.”The Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead after one and a half innings before the hosts cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second. Traverse Briana led off with a single before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Spencer Balian.Dan O?Leary cut the deficit to one with a solo homer in the fourth before Balian knotted things with an RBI single in the following frame, plating pinch runner Drew McCarthy, who took over for Briana after a single.?We did a terrific job of hanging in there today,” explained O?Brien. “We continued to chip away after falling behind early and then made the most out of the opportunities we were given.”Starting pitcher Dave Johnson went the distance for the Pioneers, yielding just six hits while striking out four and walking one.Lynnfield (13-5 overall) heads to Belmont on Friday for a game with Austin Prep (2:15) in the Brendan Grant Tournament. The winner takes on either Reading or Belmont in the championship on Saturday (2). The consolation game starts at 11.Classical 7, Salem 1At Salem State, the Rams need one more win with three games remaining to qualify for the tournament.Classical starter Raymundo Gomez got the win going 4.2 innings (5 strikeouts, 5 walks, 5 hits, 1 run) with Brandon Devin getting the save (2.1 innings, 4 strikeouts, walk, hit).Andre Gaudet (hit, run, 2 RBI); Eric Brazell (hit, 2 RBI); Tyler Way (hit, 2 RBI); and Mike Stanley (2 hits, 2 walks) led the way offensively. The Rams are 9-8.Beverly 1, Peabody 0At Beverly, all Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt could do after this one was shake his head and tip his hat to Beverly pitcher David Drinkwater, who was like Houdini, escaping every jam that came his way.Beverly scored the lone run of the game in the fifth inning when Matt Hamor doubled, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by George Hillios and scored on a double to left by Sean Curtin.Peabody pitcher Andrew McLaughin only allowed three hits and struck out four. Drinkwater struck out five and walked two.Peabody is now 14-5 overall and 10-4 in the NEC. Had the Tanners won this one, they had a shot at clinching the NEC North title outright. Now Peabody and Beverly are tied for first.Mald. Cath. 2, St. John?s 0At Malden Catholic, the Lancers spoiled the Eagles? 15-game winning streak despite stellar pitching from St. John?s Prep starter Justin Snyder. Snyder threw a complete game, allowing only three hits, two runs and striking out five. One run was earned.The Eagles only had five hits, with Jacob Yish accounting for two of them. St. John?s (15-2, 6-1 Catholic Conference) lost its opening game against Peabody and won the next 15 before losing to the Lancers. The Eagles won 3-1 the first time the two teams played.Revere 6, English 4At Fraser Field, the Bulldogs fell behind 6-0 after three innings and never fully recovered against Noah Jaynes (8 strikeouts), who allowed just six hits over his seven innings. Oscar Zavala broke things open for the Patriots with a two-run, bases loaded double in the second. Kyle Norton had two hits and two RBI for Revere (7-10).The hosts made things interesting with a three run sixth, highlighted by an RBI double from Dan Rustani, scoring Brett Molea, who had a run-scoring single in the fourth. Mike Ausiello added two hits for English (8-9), who plays Classical on Wednesday (4).Danvers 10, Marblehead 4At Sea Side, the Falcons jumped out to an 8-0 lead after one i