The Lynn Classical baseball team saw its hopes of returning to the Division 2 North semifinals for the first time since 2011 come to a screeching halt with a 5-4 upset loss to No. 13 Concord-Carlisle at Fraser Field Monday.
?(Concord-Carlisle) made the plays that they needed to and we didn?t. That was the difference,” Rams coach Mike Zukowski said.
The fifth-seeded Rams (15-7) got off to a good start, pushing three runs across in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Matt Lauria, Andre Gaudet and Brandon Devin.
That lead didn?t last long as the Patriots (12-10) loaded the bases in the top of the second for John Carroll, who blasted a grand slam to give C-C a lead it never relinquished.
It was the only mistake that senior Joe Tardiff made as he held the Patriots to three hits total with 10 strikeouts in his final outing as a Ram.
?Joe has nothing to hang his head about. He gave us a chance to win the game. We couldn?t get the hit that we needed,” Zukowski said.
C-C extended the lead to 5-3 before Tardiff scored on a throwing error in the fifth to cut the lead to one but Classical couldn?t come all the way back.
?We had a really great season,” Zukowski said. “This is just a tough way for it to end.”
St. Mary?s 5, Arlington Catholic 2
The Spartans picked the right time to get revenge on a team that had beaten them twice during the regular season, both times in extra innings. Brendan O?Neill allowed one earned run and struck out six while his teammates overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit to reach the Division 3 North semifinals.
?Brendan competed and stayed mentally focused when he needed to,” St. Mary?s coach Derek Dana said. “He made some great pitches and the defense made plays behind him.”
John Gaeta was the hitting star for the Spartans (16-6) as his RBI single in the top of the second tied the game, 2-2. He added a two-run double in the top of the fourth that scored O?Neill and Clay Yianacopolus for a lead the Spartans held.
?It was nice to be able to get the big hits when we needed them,” Dana said.
St. Mary?s hosts Whittier Tech Wednesday at Fraser Field. The Wildcats, who beat St. Mary?s in the 2013 sectional final, advanced with a stunning 9-8 win over Pentucket, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Austin Prep 2, Swampscott 1
Logan Bravo?s two-run homer in the fifth off Swampscott starter Gavin Sullivan held up as the Cougars ended the Big Blue?s season in the Division 3 North quarterfinals.
Swampscott (13-8) scored its run in the top of the sixth as Louis Olivieri?s sacrifice fly brought in Ryan Cresta. The Big Blue had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the seventh but couldn?t bring them home.
Masconomet 6, Marblehead 4
The Magicians pushed the two-time defending Division 2 North champions right to the final out but came up short in the upset bid.
Masco jumped out to a 4-0 lead through three innings before Drew Bisegna got Marblehead on the board with a solo homer in the fourth. The Chieftains scored two in the bottom of the inning which proved to be the difference.
The Magicians (11-11) pushed across three in the top of the sixth on a two-run Garrett Keough single and RBI basehit from Jeff Stern. Marblehead then put the first two batters on in the seventh, pushing one across on a wild pitch before Ethan Dyer shut the door with the tying run at second base.Billerica 6, Peabody 3
The Tanners got into a 4-0 hole early and were unable to recover as the No. 3 seed was eliminated in the Division 1 North quarterfinals.
?We had our opportunities and couldn?t get the big hit,” Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt said.
Peabody (18-6) rallied in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three times and getting the tying run to the plate but Mike Petrosino grounded out to end the game.St. John?s Prep 9, Wachusett 0
The Eagles dominated from start-to-finish en route to a second consecutive shutout in the Division 1A tournament. Justin Kerhulas, Drew Farris and Justin Foley com
Itemlive
North Shore news powered by The Daily Item
