SWAMPSCOTT — It’s no secret the Lynn English baseball team needed a win Thursday night against Swampscott. The Bulldogs started the season with three wins but slipped into an eight-game losing streak over the past three weeks.
Fortunately for English, Devin Curley and Wilbur Rosario came to play. Curley tossed seven solid innings and Rosario collected two RBI in a 4-1 English win at Swampscott Middle School.
“It shows shows the toughness in our kids,” English coach Doug Mullins said. “Every game this year, they’ve been in it. Wednesday night (14-5 loss to Salem) was the only exception. For these guys to stay mentally tough and stay prepared, it shows the type of kids they are.”
Curley tossed seven innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and two walks. He tallied eight strikeouts.
“We needed that today,” Mullins said. “Devin was mixing his pitches and threw all three of his pitches well.”
English’s Rosario went 2-for-4 with two RBI, Briston Maynard 2-for-4 with one RBI and Jomar Moreta went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Andy Duverge went 3-for-3, reaching base on all four of his plate appearances.
Swampscott starter Luke Marshall pitched five innings, allowed four runs and struck out four. Colin Frary pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
“I thought Luke threw very well,” Swampscott coach Jason Calichman said. “We gave them too many extra outs. We didn’t play great defense and we didn’t have the timely hits. That’s not a good combination. It’s a not a good recipe for success.”
After English stranded runners on first and second in the top of the first, Swampscott pushed one run across in the bottom half of the inning. Jonathan Oriakhi doubled from the leadoff spot and took third base on Zach Elwell’s flyout. Ryan Graciale brought Oriakhi home with a sac-fly to give the Big Blue a 1-0 lead.
English answered quickly with three in the top of the second. A two-RBI triple from Rosario gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Rosario scored on a RBI double from Moreta, padding English’s lead to 3-1.
That’s how it stayed until the Bulldogs tacked on one more in the top of the fourth. Moreta laced a single with two outs and stole second. Maynard followed with a RBI single, scoring Moreta for the 4-1 lead.
“We’ve been preaching pitching, defense and timely hitting,” Mullins said. “If we put those all together, it almost always equates to a win. We got all three of those today and we came away with the win.”
Through the first four innings, the Big Blue stranded five runners on base. Curley, with help from his defense, worked his way out of the jams. Swampscott had its share of chances to push a few more runs across but the Big Blue offense never delivered the key hit.
“The way the game started I thought we were going to score some runs but three hits isn’t going to do it,” Calichman said. “In the past 14 innings, we have three hits. For a team that exploded earlier in the season, we’ve hit a rough patch.
“We have to get hits with runners on base,” Calichman added. “We put runners on base but we had eight strikeouts and a lot of those were with runners on base. We have to put the ball in play.”
Curley allowed a walk with one out in the bottom of the sixth but buckled down to retire the final five Swampscott batters in order, sealing the 4-1 victory.
“It looked like Devin was maybe getting a little tired in the sixth,” Mullins said, “but he battled. He dug down deep. He got us through the whole game. The game ball went to him today, that’s for sure.
“Swampscott’s a good team,” Mullins added. “They’re well coached and we faced a good pitcher as well. It doesn’t matter who you play in the NEC, you have to come ready to play against anybody. Swampscott’s definitely a good team so we’re happy to come away with the win.”
English (4-8) aims for another win Monday at Everett. Swampscott (7-5) aims to snap a two-game slide Saturday at Georgetown in a non-conference tilt.
“We’ll be back,” Calichman said. “These kids grind every day and they work hard. We’ll certainly be back.”
