Lynn Junior Legion gets win over Swampscott

The Lynn Junior Legion team bent but it didn?t break in a 2-1 win over Swampscott Friday in the District 8 Legion playoffs at Swampscott.Lynn held a slim 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and that?s when things got interesting. Swampscott scraped up one run and had the tying run on third, but Lynn pitcher Brendan O?Neill kept his composure. He got the final batter to chase a bad pitch to end the game.?Brendan pitched a phenomenal game,” Lynn coach Ron Gaudet said. “He got in a couple of tight situations, but he didn?t give in. He kept his composure and pitched a great game.”Swampscott starting pitcher Gavin Sullivan wasn?t giving anything away either. He got the side in order in the first, walked the leadoff batter in the second and then got the next three. A leadoff walk to Matt Desilets in the third inning came back to haunt Sullivan. Desilets went to second on Dan Hennessey?s sacrifice bunt and he took third on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at second. That set the stage for Donnie Weisse, who drove in Desilets on a groundout to second.Lynn couldn?t do anything in the fourth and fifth innings with its only two baserunners coming on walks.Lynn finally got something going in the top of the sixth when first baseman Andre Gaudet hit a shot to the center field fence. Anthony Ross did a nice job getting to the ball, but it went off his glove and Gaudet was safe at second. P.J. Hatchouel delivered what would be the game-winner with a single to right field that scored Gaudet from second. Lynn threatened to do a little more damage when Ryan Turenne hit a deep fly ball to center that was dropped, but Swampscott got out of the jam with a 4-6-3 double play.Swampscott threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ryan Donnelly walked to lead off and C.J. Howard followed with a single. Swampscott?s fortunes took a dive when Hennessey picked off Donnelly at second. After a popup to first, Jake Cooper singled to put runners on first and third, but Howard got thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.Lynn made some noise in the top of the seventh when Desilets doubled to left center to start the inning, but Swampscott reliever Corey Bleau got the next three batters to keep it a 2-0 game.Swampscott made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh when Jake Stead walked with one out and Aidan Caldwell hit a ground ball that was heading up the middle. Shortstop Joe Tardiff scooped it up and tried to step on second but was too late. He threw to first to try to get Caldwell, but the throw sailed and Caldwell ended up on second and Stead on third. Lou Olivieri singled to drive in Stead, but the rally fizzled when O?Neill got the next batter to strike out.?Brendan was the glue to everything today,” Gaudet said. “He kept his composure. He didn?t panic.”Swampscott coach Lou Olivieri commended O?Neill on his performance.?The kid for Lynn pitched a great game,” he said, adding that his team didn?t make the defensive plays it needed to make.?Defense wins championships,” he said. “We?ve got to make more of the plays in the field.”The action all moves to Veterans Field in Methuen for the weekend. Lynn will play Methuen at noon Saturday and Swampscott will play Haverhill Saturday at 6 p.m.