Peabody Champions foiled in game two of NSBL finals

DANVERS – After a 6-3 triumph in the opening game of the North Shore Baseball League championship series on Saturday, the Peabody Champions ran into a hot (right) hand on Sunday evening.Kingston?s Steve Considine turned in a prime-time pitching performance for the Night Owls, blanking the visitors over six innings on the way to a 6-0 victory at Twi Field.?He?s been with them for a long time and knows our lineup well,” explained Peabody player/coach Mike Giardi of Considine (4 hits, 3 strikeouts). “He?s not the overpowering type but he mixes his pitches and is extremely efficient at hitting his spots. All we can do is tip our hats to him.”A three-spot in the first provided the hosts with all the offense and momentum they would need the rest of the way.Colin Walsh kick-started the frame with a one-out double to the base of the fence in center before Kyle Neverman launched a no-doubter to left-center for a quick lead off Tyler Leavitt.Jason Buco added an RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Ferriero (single).?In these types of games, early offense can go a long way,” explained Giardi. “They were able to square up some balls in the first few innings and provide their pitcher with a nice cushion.”The third commenced with singles from Walsh and Neverman before Leavitt sandwiched a walk to Joe Morin between two strikeouts. Dan Lagasse followed by working the third full count of the inning before scalding a two-run single up the middle.?I thought Tyler settled down nicely after that,” reflected Giardi. “We made a few mistakes behind him later in the game, which didn?t help.”A solo run in the fourth capped the scoring.An error on Giardi in left allowed Danny Morin to reach safely before a two-out ground ball to third from Neverman took a high hop over Brian Marshall.Peabody would generate some chances throughout, managing leadoff singles in the second, fourth and fifth. In the first two occurrences, Considine responded with three consecutive outs before working around an error to finish the latter.?We couldn?t find a way to string together multiple hits,” lamented Giardi. “Steve doesn?t walk many batters and did what he had to do the few times we did put men on base.”The locals will hope for a better result in game three, to be played tonight, back at Twi Field (7:30).