FILE PHOTO
Mike Stellato’s three RBI helped push the Pioneers past the Dragons.
By MIKE ALONGI
HAVERHILL — Behind a solid pitching performance from Justin Juliano and some timely hitting, the No. 3 Lynnfield Pioneers baseball team took down No. 2 Latin Academy, 7-3, in the Division 3 North semifinals at Trinity Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, Lynnfield is in the Division 3 North Final for the second consecutive year.
Juliano tossed a complete game for the Pioneers, giving up three runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.
“Justin did a very good job today and threw a lot of strikes,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien. “He made a couple mistakes and hit some guys, which is uncharacteristic for him, but he battled the whole game against a quality lineup over there.”
On the offensive end, it was Mike Stellato who led the way with a triple, a single and three RBI. Bryant Dana had two RBI and Juliano added one RBI of his own.
The Pioneers came right out and push across a couple runs in the top of the first. After Jonathan Luders and Juliano led off with singles, Stellato stepped up to the plate and smashed a long two-run triple over the centerfielder’s head to make it 2-0. The very next batter, Dana, stepped in and hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Stellato and make it 3-0 after a half an inning.
Latin Academy answered right back in the bottom of the first after back-to-back singles. With men on first and second, John Teehan hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice that brought in a run and made it 3-1. The Dragons continued to threaten, loading up the bases with two outs, but Juliano and the Pioneers were able to work out of the jam allowing just the one run.
Lynnfield got right back to work in the top of the second, with Juliano knocking an RBI single to make it 4-1. Then, with runners on first and second with two outs, Dana stepped in and knocked a big RBI double to right-centerfield. A throwing error brought in another run for the Pioneers, and all of a sudden Lynnfield was up 6-1.
The Pioneers added one more insurance run in the top of the fourth when Stellato hit an RBI single.
The three-RBI day was just what Stellato needed according to his coach.
“He’s been a little snakebitten lately, so this was great to see from him,” said O’Brien. “He also ran the bases really well and played a good third base today. Great game from him.”
The score stayed at 7-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when Latin Academy made its final stand. A couple of singles and a hit batter loaded up the bases with just one out, and a fielder’s choice brought in a run to make it 7-2. With the bases still loaded, Ryan Lonergan hit an RBI single to make it 7-3, and all of a sudden the tying run was at the plate. But Juliano bared down and forced the final batter to pop out to shortstop, sealing the win for Lynnfield.
The Pioneers will now look for a different result in the Division 3 North Final this year after falling to North Reading last year. They will have a few days off to rest and study their opponent, which will be either Bishop Fenwick or Austin Prep (they play today at Fraser Field, 7 p.m.).
“We were lucky to get in that game (against Shawsheen Tech) the other day, so now we have some time to rest and get our bearings,” said O’Brien. “But at the same time, we’ve got to keep working hard and keep pushing. I know the guys are excited to keep playing, they’ve worked hard for this all year.”
