PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Peabody West’s Zach Fisher lines his bat up for a base hit.
By ANNE MARIE TOBIN
LYNN — While the Fourth of July was still two days away, there were plenty of fireworks on display Saturday morning at Walter Flynn Field, where the Peabody West all-stars defeated Saugus American, 9-6, in a rock-em, sock-em affair.
West scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 stalemate, then hung on for dear life in the bottom of the inning to advance to the third round against Swampscott, Friday, at a site to be determined.
Chris Faraca (1-for-3, 2 RBI) and Dom Annese (2-for-3, 3 RBI) provided the fifth-inning fireworks. Faraca ripped a shot to center field that skipped over the fence for a two-run ground rule double, then Annese blasted a three-run homer high over the trees to give Peabody a 9-4 lead with a half inning to go.
Saugus fought right to the end with a pair of unearned runs in its half of the inning and had the game winning run at the plate with the bases loaded, but came up short.
“Saugus is a well-coached team that doesn’t ever give up, so we were fortunate to get by them today” West manager Gary Lynch said. “Peabody and Saugus have developed a nice little rivalry, and this is just an example of how the deeper you go in this tournament, the tougher it gets.”
Faraca, who struck out 15 of 15 batters in Peabody’s first game, picked up where he left off, striking out the first six Saugus batters he faced. Left fielder Ryan Mabee brought an end to Faraca’s streak of 21 straight strikeouts by getting a bunt down in the third inning, only to be thrown out at first by Faraca, who returned to form and struck out the next two batters.
Catcher Harry Lynch staked Peabody to a 2-0 lead with an opposite field two-run double in the third, scoring Faraca (error) and Annese (single) and chasing Saugus starter Colin Ronan from the game. Reliever Justin Palladino got the next two batters looking to close out the inning.
Peabody doubled the lead to 4-0 in the fourth on a two-run single by Fisher, scoring pinch-hitter Nick Houvardas (hit by pitch) and Jeff Roach (walk).
Palladino broke up Faraca’s eight-inning no-hit streak with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth. Two batters later, catcher Donovan Clark blasted a bomb over the fence in right, making it a two-run game at 4-2.
Annese came on in relief in the bottom of the fifth and struggled with control. Saugus pounced.
Annese plunked pinch-hitter Max Gibbs. Ronan ran for Gibbs, eventually scoring on a wild pitch, while Robbins scored on a ground out by Ryan Anderson (1-for-3, double), making it 4-4 with one inning left.
Houvardas (2 runs), batting in the No. 8 slot, got things started for Peabody in the sixth with a leadoff walk. Back-to-back singles by No. 9 hitter Roach (2-for-2, run) and Fisher (2-for-4, 2 RBI, run ) set the stage for the Faraca and Annese knock-out punch.
Saugus, however did not go quietly. With one out, center fielder Gianna Giardullo (1-for-3, run) doubled to right. Walks to Mabee and Robbins loaded the bases for Palladino, who also walked, scoring Giardullo. Mabee scored on an infield error, making it 9-6, with Clark, representing the game-winning run, at the plate. Annese got out of the jam with a ground ball forceout at second.
“I’m proud of our kids, they played their hearts out and fought back,” Saugus manager Charlie Bilton said. “We made a few mistakes that hurt us, we missed a few signs and gave up some walks in the bottom of the order, but that was just a great, great Little League game.”
Saugus goes into the losers’ bracket (TBD) and will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Wyoma and Saugus National Thursday.
