SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott Sox opened the playoffs with a bang as they combined for four home runs to take down the Marblehead Seasiders in five innings, 19-3, in Game 1 of the opening round of the North Shore Baseball League playoffs at Forest Ave Park on Tuesday evening.
Kyle O’Connor (four RBI), Brian Maynard (four RBI), Joe Kasper (three RBI) and Elvis Rodriguez (two RBI) each recorded a long ball in the win, while Richie Arias (two RBI), Junior Santos (two RBI), Donnie Weisse (one RBI) and Anthony Delacruz (one RBI) also recorded RBIs in the win.
“We certainly have the luxury of having a lot of great hitters on the team,” said Swampscott coach Joe Caponigro. “Our No. 8 and No. 9 guys are leadoff guys on their high school teams, so that definitely boosts our whole lineup. Today we came out, took the right pitches and came up with hits when we needed them.”
On the mound for the Sox, Ben Kendrew earned the win after giving up three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in five innings of work.
“Ben did a great job, he works really fast and throws a lot of strikes, which is all you can ask for,” said Caponigro. “Having a guy that can control the pace of the game and also come back and pitch well after a couple of long breaks because of our big innings is a big plus for us.”
Swampscott jumped right out into a lead in the bottom of the first when Rodriguez ripped an RBI double down the left field line. Two batters later, Maynard knocked him in on an RBI double to put the Sox up 2-0.
The Sox added one more in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Santos to go up 3-0.
Marblehead made it a game again in the top of the third inning, quickly knocking in three runs of its own to tie up the score. The Seasiders loaded up the bases with just one out before Will Vigneron knocked in a run with an RBI groundout. Next up was Payton Janscy, who smacked a two-run single to left-centerfield to tie the score at 3-3.
That’s when Swampscott brought out the big sticks. Rodriguez led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run, then two batters later Maynard smashed a three-run bomb to start to break the game open. Two singles and a walk followed Maynard, then O’Connor stepped in and launched a grand slam to make it 11-3.
The scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a two-run double by Arias. Santos followed with an RBI single and then Weisse and Delacruz each added an RBI sacrifice fly before Kasper capped off the game with a big three-run home run.
After Kendrew breezed through the top of the fifth in order, the Sox captured Game 1 and started to look forward to Game 2.
“We’re going to be looking to play the same way for sure,” said Caponigro. “We’ve got some solid pitching, so we just have to throw strikes, make all the routine plays in the field and keep hitting and we should be okay.”
First pitch for Game 2 between Swampscott and Marblehead will be tonight at 6 p.m. at Seaside Park in Marblehead.
