Champions falls just short in finals

DANVERS – The North Shore Baseball League season concluded on Saturday afternoon with the Kingston Night Owls capturing their first title, after a 7-2, Game 7 victory over Peabody Champions at Twi Field.In a battle of long balls, three different players homered for Kingston to offset two solo shots from Mark Shorey, which proved the extent of the locals? offense against P.J. Singster, who went the distance.?This was exactly the kind of series we expected coming in,” said Peabody player/coach Mike Giardi of the championship set, which pitted the top two seeds against one another. “Both teams deserve a lot of credit for the resiliency they showed to get here and I give them all the credit in the world for coming out on top.”After a two-out blast from Shorey broke the ice in the opening frame, the Owls made their swings count against Brian Marshall in the third.Manny Cabril found the gap in left-center for a leadoff double before Nick Comei reached on a perfectly executed bunt single. Leadoff hitter Dan Lagasse followed with a shot over the fence in right-center.An ensuing single from Jason Buco gave way to a no-doubter to center from Kyle Neverman to cap the inning.?Five runs on two swings of the bat. That was the difference in the game,” lamented Giardi. “You always hope for an inning like that in such a big game and unfortunately, they got it today.”Shorey added his second homer a half-inning later, a mirror image of his first, to right-center.?He?s just an unbelievable player and one you can tell has played at the higher level,” lauded Giardi. “He sets a great example for our young guys.”Singster would surrender just two hits the rest of the way, a pair of singles from Shorey and Zack Keenan in the sixth. The right-hander?s final line featured five hits, four strikeouts and one walk.?You have to credit him for keeping us off balance the whole way,” said Giardi of Singster. “We just couldn?t string anything together against him.”A two-run bomb to center from Tyler Lord concluded the scoring.The series certainly lived up to the billing as the teams split Games 1 and 2 before Kingston staged a remarkable comeback in Game 3, rallying from a 9-0 deficit for a 12-11 victory.Peabody bounced back with consecutive wins, including an 11-1 trouncing in Game 5, before the Owls forced the decisive contest with a 3-2 triumph.A league member since 1997, Kingston went all the way this year after falling just short of its first title last summer, losing in six games to the North Shore Phillies.