Saugus American hits its way into District 16 final

LYNN – The Saugus American bats came alive, hitting four home runs en route to a 12-4 win over Swampscott in the District 16 Little League loser?s bracket final at Gallagher Field. With the win, Saugus American will get another shot at Salem, which beat Saugus American, 4-2, Wednesday.
?Facing them once got the monkey off their back,” Saugus coach Mike Halley said of Salem. “They know they can make contact against their pitchers. If it can be done, we know Saugus can do it.”
Saugus American will have to beat Salem twice in order to take the district title.
Saugus American got it going right away in the top of the first Monday when leadoff hitter Jack Devereaux blasted the third pitch of the game over the left field wall to go up 1-0.
But the third inning is where Saugus American did most of its damage. Pitcher Owen Halley led off the inning with a solo homer. The next two batters walked, then Lorenzo Keegan smashed a two-run double into the gap in right-center to grab a 4-0 lead. Joey Dusablon followed with an RBI single. Two batters later, Devereaux hit an RBI single that also loaded the bases.
Halley stepped up with the bases loaded. He took a hanging breaking ball and hit it over everything in right-center field, blowing the game open with a grand slam. With the bases cleared, Jason Casaletto stepped up and hit a solo homer to cap off the inning and give Saugus American an 11-0 lead.
?We?ve really been waiting for a day like this where the bats come alive,” Halley said. “Every kid in the lineup was hitting well today.”
Swampscott got on the board in the bottom of the third. Quinn Perkins knocked a single with two outs to keep the inning alive for Cam O?Brien, who hit three home runs in two games over the weekend. He didn?t disappoint, hitting a blast over the left field wall to make the score 11-2.
Swampscott grabbed their other two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on RBI singles from Perkins and Thomas Poska.
Saugus American grabbed a final run in the top of the sixth on another RBI double from Keegan, putting the score at 12-4.
Halley got the start on the mound for Saugus American, pitching the first 2 ? innings and giving up just one run. Casaletto came in for the next 1 ? innings, giving up three runs before Devereaux pitched two scoreless innings to close it out.Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.