Gallant tourney starts with flourish

SALEM – The Ray Gallant Memorial Tournament got underway with a twin billing on Thursday evening at O?Grady Little League Field, the second of which featured a fantastic pitching performance, co-authored by a pair of Peabody aces.Starter Sean Letarte struck out 13 batters over four innings of work before Angelo McCullough came on to fan five en route to a 6-1 victory over Swampscott.?Our pitching was fantastic,” lauded manager Brian Hebert of the duo?s dominant efforts.?Sean was struggling with his command in the early going but he managed to settle down and pitch the way he?s capable of,” reflected Herbert. “Angelo came on with a comfortable lead and finished strong.”After walking two of his first three opponents, Letarte would uncork a pair of wild pitches, with the latter allowing Drew Olivieri to score. The right-hander would dig deep to whiff the next two batters, stranding Graham Inzana at third in the process.?Believe it or not, Sean is usually stronger than he was tonight,” said Herbert. “He seemed to be overthrowing a bit and it affected his command. He hasn?t pitched in a while so we expect him to be even better his next time out.”A one-out double from Jon Oriaki in the second proved the only hit Letarte would surrender. Miles Benson?s leadoff single three frames later proved the extent of Swampscott?s offense.?It was simply a dominating effort by two very good pitchers,” offered Swampscott manager Joe Caponigro. “I was proud of my guys? efforts. They hung in there the best they could and hopefully we?ll see a better result the rest of the way.”Comparatively speaking, Peabody got off to a strong start with the bats, scoring five runs in its first two trips against Dave Coleman, who was removed in the second.McCullough led off the game with a double before John Mulready launched a homer over the right field fence. Ensuing singles from J.C. Espinal and Jenarro Herbert gave way to a defensive miscue, which allowed the former to score.Swampscott got one back in the bottom half.In the second, Mulready plated Jared Ridley (double) with a groundout to shortstop before Kyle Morfis (walk) came in after a fielding error.A solo run in the fourth would cap the scoring for the visitors.Mulready reached on a misplay at second before taking second on a base knock by Espinal and third after a third strike to Herbert reached the backstop. An ensuing wild pitch allowed the lead runner to race home.?John is actually leaving for another tournament so tonight was his only game with us,” explained Herbert of Mulready. “He?s an absolute powerhouse out there and really spearheaded the offensive attack tonight.”In the day?s first game, North Reading scored a 10-5 victory over Salem, who will look for its first victory on Saturday against Swampscott (11). The two victors will meet later in the day (4).