Swampscott Sox stay alive in playoffs

The Swampscott Sox live to fight another day.Facing elimination in their best-of-three series against Beverly in the North Shore Baseball League playoffs, the Sox battled back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 and force a third game. The teams go at it again tonight at Peabody High (7:30).The Recs had the Sox? number in the opening game Sunday. Swampscott couldn?t get the bats going in that one and it looked like Game 2 was heading in the same direction.Things started out well for the Sox when Esteban Paula drilled one down the third base line in the bottom of the first. He motored around first and stretched it to a double and then really made it hurt by scampering to third when he realized no one was covering third.The heads-up running paid off when the next batter, Clemente Parra (both are former English High players), singled into the gap between left and center, scoring Paula.Beverly pitcher Nick Colanto (Beverly High/Wentworth) buckled down and set the Sox down in order in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.?Colanto pitched a heck of a game,” Sox manager Joe Caponigro said.Meanwhile, the Recs were starting to inflict a little pain at the plate. They tied the game in the third inning when Ethan Trowt walked and scored on a double to left-center by catcher Dillon Gonzalez. They took the lead in the fourth when Joe Libby singled and scored on a fly ball to right by Alex Toomey. Beverly went up 3-1 that same inning when Trowt hit a rocket back to the mound that Sox pitcher Ben Kendrew slowed down (it got a piece of his hand). It got through, scoring Genarro Ciulla, who had reached on a single.Fred Cole came on in relief of Kendrew and it was good night Irene for the Recs. Cole struck out three batters in the fifth (the second batter reached on an error) and he pretty much cruised the final two innings, allowing only one more baserunner on a walk.With Cole doing his part on the mound, the only thing left for the Sox to do was step it up at the plate and that?s what they did. In the bottom of the sixth, Chris Cole and Junior Santos reached on back-to-back walks to get things going and Paula (2-for-3, 2 runs) dropped a sweetheart of a bunt down the third base line and beat it out to load the bases. Parra popped up to first base, but Ryan Healey (English/Stonehill College) delivered the goods with a line drive single to right field that scored Chris Cole and Paula to tie the game.Stellar pitching and timely hitting put the Sox in a position to win the game, but luck carried them over the finish line. Elvis Rodriguez hit what should have been a routine ball to shortstop, but there was nothing routine about this one. It hit something and bounced over the shortstop?s head into left field, allowing Paula to score the go-ahead run from third.Beverly went down in order in the seventh, ensuring the two teams would be back at it in a rubber game.Beverly manager Mike Parker said earlier in the season, his team was on the receiving end of a similar type of play.?This field gives and it takes away. We benefited earlier in the year,” he said. “It was a tough game, but Swampscott is a good team. They?re always ready to play.”No. 4 hitter Healey had walked and struck out his first two at-bats so Parker had a feeling he was going to be a tough out. He was right.?Ryan?s been clutch for us all year,” Caponigro said, adding he had several hits that either tied games or won them.?He?s a guy who wants to be up there (in a clutch situation),” Caponigro said.Caponigro said starting pitcher Kendrew also did a great job, but the team wasn?t hitting in the early going.