ITEM PHOTO: KATIE MORRISON
Lynnfield’s Nick Colucci, right, and Mike Stellato celebrate a walk off win against Medford on Friday.
By KATIE MORRISON, MATT FRASER and MIKE ALONGI
The Lynnfield baseball team won a thriller in the first round of the first round of the Brendan Grant tournament at Brendan Grant Memorial Field in Belmont, beating Medford, 4-3, in eight innings.
Locked in a 3-3 tie, with neither team having scored since third inning, the Pioneers manufactured the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
Leadoff hitter Nick Colucci was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Colucci stole second and scooted to third on a bad throw that skipped into center field. With one out, Justin Juliano got enough on a fly ball to center to get Colucci home.
Nick Aslanian went all eight innings for Lynnfield on the mound, and save for one bad inning in which Medford scored three times, Aslanian looked solid. He allowed three runs on 11 hits, striking out three. Aslanian got help from his catcher, Dan O’Leary, in the late innings, with O’Leary throwing out two runners.
Lynnfield will play Belmont in the championship game, today at 2 p.m. in Belmont.
Saugus 5, Winthrop 0
Steve Ruggiero shined in a complete game effort, featuring just 87 pitches, including three hits and eight strikeouts. Nick Rusconi paced the visiting Sachems’ offense, finishing 3-for-4 with a solo home run in the top of the fourth. Jimmy Alcott’s suicide squeeze scored Blake Williamson to make it 3-0 before Rusconi’s two-run triple concluded the scoring in the seventh.
Saugus concludes the regular season at 10-10, advancing to the Division 3 North tournament for the ninth consecutive season.
Danvers 4, Beverly 3
The Falcons won the Northeastern Conference regular season crown with a one-run win over the Panthers on Friday afternoon. Zach Dillon had the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the fourth inning that proved to be the winning run. Also for Danvers, Tim Unczur had an RBI single and Tom Mento knocked a two-run double. Dean Borders pitched well and got the win on the mound.
For Beverly, Nick Samperi had an RBI double, Rocky Pisa notched an RBI on a walk and Matt Manzo drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
