Pine Hill pushes across two in seventh to top Peabody White, 2-0

LYNN – Scoreless after six innings, it took some dramatics from the Pine Hill team to top Peabody White, 2-0, in a District 16 Little League Tournament opener Monday at Volunteer Field.
Pine Hill broke a scoreless tie in the seventh when James Ball stroked a two-run double after Aramis Sanchez reached on an infield single and Junnell Leon doubled deep to center to put runners on second and third.
Starter Aidan Dow was unhittable for Pine Hill, but ran into trouble with a few walks spread out over his four innings of work. He allowed a free pass in the first inning, but struck out the side in order after that. Dow escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the second and another potential run-producing situation in the third, but held Peabody White scoreless.
Of the 12 outs Dow recorded, 10 came on strikeouts. He was no-hitting the Peabody squad after four innings, but was lifted for Luke Rao because of the Little League pitch limit.
Peabody?s Scott Emerson beat out an infield hit in the fifth against Rao to get something going and stole second. Emerson made it all the way to third with two outs, but a running catch by Kyle Durant in center field ended the threat.
?For the first few innings, our starter and theirs were dueling and battling,” said Pine Hill coach Pete Dow. “(Aidan Dow) got into some trouble in every inning, but he beared down and dug himself out of some holes. He was locating great and his curveball was really working.”
Ryan Bradley made the start for Peabody White, and he was just as dominant as Dow on the other side. He allowed a hit to Miguel Segura to lead off the game, but settled in nicely.
Myles Meijas reached on a leadoff walk for Pine Hill in the sixth, and while Bradley got two outs in the inning, he was lifted after 5 ? innings, and Peabody White got out of the inning unscathed.
Peabody had its best chance of the game to score in the bottom of the sixth when the leadoff man reached on an infield hit. The runner moved to third with one out, and was cut down at the plate on a nice throw from Dow, playing first base.
?Both pitchers pitched excellent,” said Peabody White manager Bill Linehan. “Little League comes down to pitching, timely hitting, and defense. We got two out of the three today, but couldn?t get the timely hitting. I?m very proud of our guys. If we continue to play like that, we?re going to win. I?m very pleased.”
?Right off the bat, we knew this was going to be a good game,” said Dow. “These guys have been going hard at it, practicing every day. I really believe a team is a family, so we?ve been having team dinners and movie nights, and I think that continuity showed at the end of the game. These kids have been together a long time.”
Saugus National 4, Peabody West 3
Down by a run heading into the bottom of the sixth, Saugus National rallied when Kyle Surette reached on a single, Travis Pagliarulo singled up the middle, and Alex Salvo cleared the bases to give Saugus the walk-off victory.
Surette went five innings and kept Saugus National in the game as it took down the defending District champions.
The Saugus squad was aided by some excellent defense. Jared Abkarian, the right fielder, made two outstanding catches at the fence, and center fielder Kyle McLaughlin robbed Peabody of a home run with an over-the-fence grab.
?It was such a good game,” said Saugus National coach James Martinez. “The umpires were even coming up to us after the game to congratulate us on one of the best games they?ve seen. This team is a lot of 11-year-olds ? we?re the underdogs, and there?s not much pressure on us. We?re going up against some powerhouses. But tonight, we happened to be at the right place at the right time and got some very timely hitting.”
Katie Morrison may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KatieMo61.