LYNN — It was a tale of two ballgames. The first three innings belonged to Classical. The final four to Salem.
So it should be no surprise to find out that the Witches won the game Wednesday morning at Fraser Field, 6-5, thanks to a three-run rally in the top of the seventh, with all the runs being unearned.
The Rams (2-3) hoisted themselves up by their own petards in this one. They made seven errors, and almost every one ended up killing them.
“Over the course of a game,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said, “there are a lot of little plays — misplays, errors, mental errors — and they all add up. There isn’t much to say beyond that.”
The loss put a damper on a fantastic day at the plate by Classical’s A.J. Luciano, who was 3-for-3 with a walk, scored two runs, and knocked in two.
Classical played a very clean game for three innings. Starting pitcher Kyle Finnigan plunked the first batter he faced and then kept the Witches (2-2) off the bases until there was one out in in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Rams built a 4-0 lead. Luciano led off the bottom of the first with a walk and came around to score on a stolen base, wild pitch and base hit to right by Sean Devin.
Luciano brought Classical’s second run home in the bottom of the second, doubling home Kevin Durant, who had walked. Dave Barnard singled to center scoring Luciano and it was 3-0.
In the third, Dayshawn Anderson drew a one-out walk, stole second, and came around on Cesar Carrero’s single.
It all came apart for Classical starting in the top of the fourth. With one out, Brady McGrath, who had relieved starter Joey Baez, hit what looked to be a routine fly to left. However, the ball hit Devin in the face and McGrath ended up on second.
After a fly ball to center produced the second out, it looked as if the Rams would escape harm. But Bobby Jellison singled to center, with McGrath scoring. Jellison ended up on second after an overthrow back into the infield.
Troy Zipper made Classical pay for that error by singling home Jellison, with Zipper taking second on another error.
McGrath held Classical in check while the Witches gained more momentum in the fifth, taking advantage of another extra out granted by the Rams.
Bryan Palacios hit a scratch single and ended up on second via another error. A wild pitch landed him on third and he came home on Tommy Beauregard’s grounder to third on some heads-up baserunning (he paused until Anderson let go of the ball, and then scored easily).
Salem didn’t score in the sixth, but still left the bases loaded. And it looked as if Classical successfully put the game away in the bottom of the inning, getting an insurance run when Durant singled and stole second, and Luciano hit a triple that rolled to the deepest part of the park. But a perfect 8-6-2 relay play nailed Luciano at the plate as he tried for an inside-the-park home run.
“That turned out to be a very big play,” said Salem coach Gavin Softic. It was one of two outfield assists from Salem on the day.
In the top of the seventh, Ruben Baez was hit by a pitch, and McGrath followed with a base hit.
Even though cleanup hitter Jayco Pena was up, Softic chose to have him bunt anyway to move the runners up.
He got more than that. Pena’s bunt was perfectly placed, and Finnigan pivoted and threw to third in an attempt to get the lead runner. But the ball went past third and rolled all the way to the left-field fence.
Both runners scored to tie the game and Pena ended up on third.
“We got some breaks,” admitted Softic, “but you have to put yourself in a position to get them. (Pena) did a very good job getting the bunt down.”
Jellison followed with a sacrifice fly to right to score Pena with the winning run.
