Swampscott Sox bow out of NSBL playoffs

PEABODY – The Swampscott Sox made an early exit from the North Shore Baseball League playoffs with a 7-3 loss to Beverly Tuesday at Peabody High.Beverly Recs pitcher Andrew McLaughlin, a newly-minted Peabody High graduate heading to Salem State, surrendered nine hits, but the with the exception of a two-run second inning, the Sox couldn?t seem to string anything together.Beverly will play Peabody Champions in the next round beginning on Thursday.The Sox pushed the best-of-three series to a third game with a dramatic 4-3 win Monday night, but with four pitchers injured, a long playoff run wasn?t in the cards. Dave Fradette got the start, but he struggled from the get-go, walking three of the first four batters and giving up a hit to the fourth.Junior Santos, working on only one day?s rest after pitching the opener on Sunday, came on in the first with no outs and two runs already in. Dillon Gonzalez had scored on a bases-loaded walk to Joe Libby and Dan Mello singled and scored on a fly ball to deep right that Sox fielder Joe Kasper made a great catch on.Santos stopped the bleeding, getting the next batter to hit into a fielder?s choice and the No. 7 batter to strike out. The Sox got right back in the game in the second when Ryan Healey and Bryan Maynard hit back-to-back doubles. Healey scored on Maynard?s hit and Maynard came home on a double by Elvis Rodriguez. The Sox had four hits that inning, but that would be about it.McLaughlin bent a couple of times over the next four innings, but his defense stepped up when it had to and kept the Sox off the board. Meanwhile, the Recs were doing what they do best – getting runners on base and making things happen.?We tend to get a run or two an inning. Everyone, one through nine, can get on base and drive in runs. We?re very well-rounded,” Recs player/coach Matt Mello said.Beverly took the lead for good at 4-2 with two runs in the third inning. Matt Burgess scored on a passed ball and Libby on a single by Genarro Ciulla. The Recs made it 5-2 in the fourth on an RBI single by Libby that scored Burgess, and then added two in the fifth on a two-run single by Dan Mello.Swampscott scored its final run in the top of the seventh on an infield hit by Esteban Paula.Sox coach Joe Caponigro gave Santos credit for keeping his team in the game despite coming back after only one day. He also praised McLaughlin.?He pitched a heck of a game,” Caponigro said. “They?ve got a nice team. They had the timely hits.”Mello was also impressed by McLaughlin?s outing (he went the distance).?This is Andy?s first time going through this league,” he said. “This is good preparation for college. He pitched a great game. I expected nothing less of him. He doesn?t get rattled for a kid his age.”Beverly made the semifinals of the playoffs last year, but got swept by Kingston. Mello expects Peabody to be tough. The top four seeds, Peabody, Kingston, the North Shore Phillies and Beverly, constitute the final four. This next series will be a best of five and the championship series will be a best of seven.