Danvers 13’s keep title hopes alive

There is likely to be a lot of biting of fingernails and text messages going back and forth in Marblehead this evening as three teams are set to battle for two spots in the 13-year-old Babe Ruth District 1 final.
Danvers? 6-2 win over Swampscott-Nahant at Seaside Park on Thursday night insured that.
The win improved Danvers to 2-1 in pool play. Lynn currently is atop the standings at 3-0 with Peabody also in the mix at 2-1.
Danvers is scheduled to face Lynn Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Seaside. Peabody plays Marblehead at the same time at Marblehead High with a chance to finish the pool play round at 3-1 and holding a tiebreaker over Danvers thanks to a 11-6 win. If Danvers beats Lynn, the potential is there for run differential to decide who moves into the final and who is eliminated.
?We told the kids before the game what was going on but they were focused on going out and winning (on Thursday),” Danvers manager Rob Prentiss said. “We have a great group of kids.”
Danvers scored a run in the first and tacked on three more in the second before scoring twice more in the fourth. That was more than enough for the trio of Ian Paskowski, J.T. Cashman, and Jack Thibodeau, who shut down the Swampscott-Nahant attack.
The Danvers defense also was sharp, led by Ted Wilson at shortstop and Aaron Paskowski behind the plate. Cashman also had three hits, reached base four times, and drove in a run.Swampscott-Nahant got solid pitching from Graham Inzana and Evan DePietro but base-running blunders proved costly.