Lynn 14s rally for victory over Swampscott/Nahant

DANVERS – It took five frustrating innings, but the Lynn Babe Ruth 14-year-old all-stars? offense was finally rewarded.Trailing 2-0 through four frames, the visitors cut the lead in half before breaking through for a four-run sixth en route to a tournament-opening 5-2 victory over Swampscott/Nahant Sunday afternoon at Twi Field. “We hit the ball hard in the first five innings but couldn?t scrape a run across,” explained coach Pete Dawson. “We finally started catching some breaks late in the game and were able to take advantage of them.”Dax Billingsley led off the fifth with a single to center before advancing to third after escaping a rundown between second and third following a Briston Maynard groundout.An ensuing sacrifice fly to center by Josh Mateo allowed Billingsley to scamper home with the icebreaker.?We desperately needed that first run,” said Dawson. “Their pitcher had us off balance a lot but Josh got the job done with a sacrifice fly and from there our confidence began to rise.”The game-deciding sixth got off to an ugly start for Swampscott/Nahant starter Ben Conner, who plunked both Eric Pedro and David Hunter before walking Ryan Turenne.With Luke Marshall on in relief, Kyle Bernardini drew a free pass, which brought in the tying run. John Nicosia followed with a single to center that gave Lynn the lead for good.Billingsley would tack on a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Turenne, before Bernardini came across after a pick-off attempt got by Brett Benoit at first.Hunter and Conner engaged in quite the pitcher?s duel for the majority of the contest that saw the former strike out six.The visitors grabbed two runs in the third off Hunter (2 hits, 2 walks), who walked Ishaan George to open the frame.After stealing second, George would come around on a double down the right field line from Cameron Thompson, who scored shortly after on a sacrifice fly from leadoff man Max Carbone.No Swampscott/Nahant runner would reach as far as second again.?David pitched a great game today and really responded after giving up those runs in the third,” lauded Dawson. Despite no strikeouts, Conner managed to keep the hosts? offense at bay through the first four innings. In addition to some loud outs, the lefty yielded four hits but only needed to strand one runner in scoring position.?Ben pitched a whale of a game today until the fifth,” said coach Dan Santanello. “He was tiring a bit but asked to go out for the sixth and I gave him the benefit of the doubt.”Swampscott/Nahant is back at it tonight against Salem/Beverly (Twi, 5) while Lynn gets a day off before playing Danvers on Tuesday.