Lynn wins its Gallant tourney opener

SALEM – Dominating might be understating Bobby Alcock?s pitching performance Friday night in Lynn?s 6-0 win over Marblehead in the Ray Gallant Memorial Tournament.After giving up a walk to start the game, Alcock fanned the side and was on his way to a one-hit, 16-strikeout performance. The Wyoma Little League ace saw his no-hit bid slip away when Marblehead?s Sebastian Fisichelli shot a single up the middle with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. He responded by getting the next batter to strike out.?He was the story today,” Lynn coach Leon Elwell said. “We called one off-speed pitch. Everything else was fastballs. He was just overpowering.”At one point, Alcock struck out seven of eight batters. He struck out the side in the third inning and walked the leadoff batter in the first and fourth innings, but went on to strike out the next three each time. Marblehead reached on an error to lead off the second inning, but Lynn erased the runner when the next batter hit a grounder back to Alcock, who went to second for the first out and shortstop Colin Reddy fired over to first for the double play.?It was good to get the first win and get our feet wet in the tournament,” Elwell said.Lynn took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second after loading the bases with one out (an error and two walks). Leadoff hitter Reddy was hit by a pitch in the head (he was OK), bringing in a run. The second run scored on a bases-loaded walk to Will Hunter.In the bottom of the third inning, Alcock reached on a single and ended up scoring on a Dan Lauria groundout for a 3-0 lead. Marblehead made some noise in the fifth when Jared Maude and Jack Bentley reached on back-to-back walks, but the threat fizzled on a strikeout and groundout.Marblehead center fielder T.J. Zagarri kept Lynn from adding to the score by throwing a runner out at the plate in the fourth. Lynn threatened again in the fifth when Hunter reached on a single and Matt Devin on a walk, but Marblehead relief pitcher Kyle Saulnier got a groundout and fanned the next two batters to ruin the party.Lynn put the game away in the bottom of the sixth when Reddy ripped a triple down the left field line, scoring Conner Donahue (single) and David Stephan (fielder?s choice). Reddy came home on a passed ball for the final run.?He (Alcock) pitched a great game,” Marblehead coach Kevin Brennan said. “He threw hard and he threw strikes. We were very impressed with him … we just couldn?t get the hits.”Fisichelli got the start for Marblehead and went three innings.Lynn will play Danvers tonight at 7 p.m. and Marblehead will play Revere at 1:30 p.m. In the other games, Swampscott will play Salem at 11 a.m.; and Peabody will play North Reading at 4 p.m. There will be four more games on Sunday.