DANVERS — After dropping the first two games of the series in tough fashion, the Peabody Champions have rallied back to force a Game 5 after taking down the Swampscott Sox, 5-2, in Game 4 of the semifinals of the North Shore Baseball League playoffs at Twi Field on Wednesday night.
“We hadn’t been hitting very well over the first two games of the series, so the past two games have been nice,” said Peabody coach Steve Gridley. “We scored some runs in unorthodox ways tonight, but we’ll take whatever we can get against a team like Swampscott, because we know they’re never out of it.”
The Champions got a solid combined pitching performance from starter Mike Gallo and relief pitcher Brandon Marshall. Gallo went four innings and gave up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Marshall, who earned the win, tossed three innings of scoreless relief with five strikeouts.
“Mike has been our horse all year and he did a great job,” Gridley said. “Once he started looking a little tired and started giving up some hits, it was good to switch things up with Marsh and have him finish it.”
On the offensive end for Peabody, Mark Shorey led the way with two RBI, while Chad Martin had a home run and one RBI.
Swampscott got RBIs from Kyle O’Connor and Ryan Healey in the loss. Starter Mike Richardson pitched a solid game for the Sox, giving up five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work.
“He really deserved a better fate out there, because he pitched really well,” said Swampscott coach Joe Caponigro. “But we made a couple mistakes out in the field and on the basepaths, and you can’t do that against a good team like Peabody.”
After moving through a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, the Champions struck first in the bottom of the inning. David Ruggiero led off with a single and was sacrificed over by Jon Cahill. That put him in scoring position for Shorey, who laced an RBI single into left field to put Peabody on the board.
Swampscott was able to respond in the top of the third on an RBI single from O’Connor, tying the score at 1-1. The Sox moved runners to first and third with one out, but O’Connor got picked off of third base and Joe Kasper struck out, ending the rally.
The Sox threatened again in the top of the fourth. Runners reached first and second with one out for Healey, who smashed an RBI ground-rule double into left-centerfield to take a 2-1 lead. Swampscott had runners at second and third with just one out, but two straight groundouts to the pitcher killed the inning before the real damage could be done.
The lead didn’t last long, as Martin led off the bottom of the fourth with a big solo home run to tie the score at 2-2. According to Gridley, that’s the spark the Champions needed.
“I think Chad’s home run really set the tone for us,” he said. “Until then we really weren’t hitting too much, then after that we were able to string some things together to load the bases and make some things happen.”
The momentum carried into the bottom of the fifth, when Peabody loaded up the bases with no out. After Shorey brought in a run with an RBI groundout, the Champions scored one run on an error at third base and scored another on a passed ball, putting the score at 5-2.
Marshall was able to cruise through the final two innings, retiring all six batters in a row to force a Game 5.
“Being able to force a Game 5 after the way we played in the first two games, that’s just the kind of guys we have,” said Gridley. “So it’s great to be able to bounce back, but it’s not going to mean a thing if we can’t win Game 5.”
For Caponigro, the key is just to rebound and play better the next game.
“I anticipated this going five games because I know what kind of team they have over there,” he said. “For us, we’ve got to do a better job at the plate, keep pitching well and avoid those killer mistakes in the field and on the basepaths.”
First pitch for Game 5 between Peabody and Swampscott will be at 6:30 p.m. this evening at Forest Ave Park in Swampscott.
