By SCOT COOPER
PEABODY — The Lynn and Peabody 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were both unbeaten heading into their game at Donahue Field Monday night.
And they’re both still undefeated after playing to a 3-3 tie.
Tournament rules specify that the games must be seven innings. And at the end of seven, it was knotted up at three apiece. If a tie can be satisfying, it was definitely more satisfying for Lynn, which bounced back from a three-run deficit to tie the game up in the bottom of the sixth.
Should the two teams be tied with the best record at the end of the round-robin tournament, the tiebreaker is which team scores the most runs, which, right now, is Peabody.
Lynn manager Dave Galeazzi said he’s not worried about tiebreakers, or run differentials. Instead, he tipped his cap to his team for the way it battled back after falling behind a “very solid” Peabody team.
“The bottom line for us is we have to come out and beat Swampscott-Nahant (tonight), and not worry about anything else,” he said. “We gave them some runs early and we hung in there and battled back. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. They represented themselves and the city of Lynn well tonight, and they’ve done that the whole tournament.”
Peabody jumped up with two runs in the top of the first off Lynn’s Luke Mannion. Singles by Peabody’s Alex Gonzalez, Scott Emerson, Anthony Conforti and a walk to Ryan Knight led to the only earned runs Mannion allowed in his seven innings of work.
Conforti scooted home on a throwing error in the top of the fourth for run No. 3 — the last that Mannion would allow. The righty whiffed seven, and earned high marks from his manager.
“(Luke) Mannion pitched great, probably the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch,” Galeazzi said. “He wasn’t alone, we had a lot of guys step up. They never gave up — we stress that, never give up — and the kids took that to heart tonight.”
Lynn began its comeback with a single run in the bottom of the fifth. Mannion and Jack Hogan reached on singles off Peabody starter Nick Fiory. Mannion was erased on a fielder’s choice, and Sannel Castro, who ran for Hogan, scored on a single by Shawn Anderson.
Gonzalez relieved Fiory to start the sixth, and Lynn went right at him to tie the game up. Derian Arias and Aiden Dow walked and scored on a long single by Manning.
Both teams are now 2-0-1. Lynn will close against Swampscott-Nahant, while Peabody will take on Saugus.
Peabody manager Peter Lemole said he hasn’t been in a tie game since Little League. Now, he said, the job is to beat Saugus.
“Strange ending to this one. I’m sure we’ll see Lynn again somewhere. They’re a very good team,” he said. “We just have to do our jobs, and come out and beat Saugus.”
