North Shore Phillies escape in eighth

The North Shore Phillies of the North Shore Baseball League haven?t had an easy week.They won a game 1-0 in eight innings, lost a game, 2-1, and had to come back twice Thursday night before finally putting away the Kingston Night Owls, 6-5, in eight innings at Breed.This one was a struggle, with the wind making things a bit of an adventure in the outfield in the early going and the tough lighting making it a challenge in the late innings. It took a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth by Zach Duval, who still plays for Masconomet, to put the game away.?You have to give them credit,” Kingston coach Paul Sartori said. “They hit the ball at the right time.”The loss knocks Kingston out of first place, which means the Night Owls will still have home field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but if they play Peabody Champions in the final round, home field advantage goes to Peabody, which is now in first place.Kingston struck early when Dan Lagasse scored on a balk by Phillies pitcher Joan Mota, a former player at Lynn Tech and Burnington County College. The Night Owls made it 2-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by Nick Comei, a sophomore on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute baseball team, that scored Jason Buco.The Phillies? bats came to life in the bottom of the fourth inning when Dan Duval led off with a single and Chris Carroll singled over the right fielder?s head. Chris Blydell came up big with a double to centerfield, scoring Duval, and Carroll came in on a sacrifice fly by Andrew DeLoury, who plays at Salem State.The Phillies? celebration was short-lived. Kingston (19-5) took the lead back in a hurry when the first batter of the fifth inning, Colin Walsh, put one over the centerfield fence. The tide turned in a hurry, with the Night Owls scoring two more runs that inning with an error and a walk proving costly. Mike Ferriero, who played at Bentley University, reached on an error and ended up scoring and Dan Morin, who walked, found his way home on a double by Tyler Lord.It looked like the Phillies, trailing 5-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, were in big trouble but they got one back on an RBI single to right field by DeLoury that drove in Duval, who had reached on a single.The Phillies caught a break in the seventh inning when Carroll lofted a fly ball to right that the fielder lost in the night sky, allowing two runs to score to tie the game at 5-5.?We had a little help with the darkness,” Phillies coach Jeff Bydell said after the game.Mota went 4 2/3 innings for the Phillies, allowing six hits. Former English High pitcher Matt Burnham, now playing at Salem State with DeLoury, shortstop Ryan Beliveau and designated hitter Mike LaMothe, came on in relief and ended up getting the win. Burnham surrendered a double to the first batter he faced (driving in a run), but he shut the Night Owls down the rest of the way, including a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth.It looked like everyone was in it for the long haul after the Phillies tied the game to send it to extra innings, but they ended it almost as quickly in the bottom of the eighth thanks to Zach Duval?s single through the right side of the infield that drove in the winning run. Autrey Gates, a sophomore on the St. Anselm baseball team, took the loss in relief. Shane Surette, a junior on the Bridgewater State University baseball team, started for Kingston before giving way to Brian Wolfendale, a four-year player at Merrimack.Both teams await the start of the NSBL playoffs on Sunday.