PEABODY— It’s only right to grab a win on Senior Night.
That was the Peabody baseball team’s goal coming into Wednesday night’s game against Swampscott at Bezemes Diamond. Behind six stellar innings from starting pitcher Alex D’Angelo and a two-run home run from Jake Gustin, the Tanners celebrated their Senior Night with a 3-2 win over the Big Blue.
Swampscott received a valiant effort from starter Luke Marshall, who tossed seven innings and fanned nine. Marshall kept the Big Blue within striking distance throughout the night.
“We only had three hits and we didn’t play with a lot of energy until the end,” Swampscott coach Jason Calichman said. “I thought Marshall threw the ball very well, good enough to win. We didn’t have the energy to get it done.”
After Swampscott stranded runners on first and second in the top of the first, Peabody took advantage of a Big Blue error in the bottom half of the frame. Evan Mullen drew a walk to lead the inning and stole second. Jake Irvine (1-for-2) hit a ground ball but an errant Swampscott throw allowed Gustin to score the game’s first run.
Swampscott stranded runners on first and second, again, in the top of the second. D’Angelo sent the Big Blue down in order in the third, setting the stage for Gustin (1-for-3, two RBI) to pad Peabody’s lead in the bottom half of the inning. Irvine led the frame with a single and Gustin followed with a two-run home run over the right field fence. Peabody led 3-0 after three.
“Jake’s our offensive juggernaut,” Tanners coach Mark Bettencourt said. “The key thing is to get guys on base in front of him. We’re going to continue to find the right combination of guys in front of him so he can go up there and hit, and knock some more runs in.”
That’s how it stayed until Swampscott found the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. Drew Olivieri started the rally with a single and took second base on a wild pitch. Ryan Graciale kept the rally alive with a single of his own, advancing Olivieri to third. Zach Elwell then grounded out into a 6-4-3 double-play, scoring Olivieri to make it a 3-1 game. D’Angelo ended the inning after forcing a ground out. He tallied five strikeouts in the winning effort.
“Alex was phenomenal,” Bettencourt said. “That’s another great start by Alex. He’s just been on. The biggest thing for him is he keeps command of three pitches. He doesn’t try to throw too hard, he doesn’t try to do too much with his curveball. He stays within himself and he allows himself to be Alex. He doesn’t try to be somebody else.”
Things became interesting in the seventh. Tanners reliever James Jimenez, a senior who had yet to make an appearance this season, came on in relief and plunked Graham Inzana and Nick Reiser. Peabody’s Eddie Campbell took the ball from there and made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt, allowing Inzana to score from second. Clinging to a one-run lead, Campbell retired the next three batters on a pair of fly outs and a strikeout to seal the 3-2 win.
“Luke was battling on the mound and we didn’t have any energy until the seventh inning,” Calichman said. “It’s a frustrating loss for us.
“We needed one more hit,” Calichman added. “We were right there. We just needed a bloop single, or something, and one more run would’ve scored. We just can’t come in with our energy in one inning and expect to win.”
Although Bettencourt could’ve opted to leave D’Angelo in the game for the seventh inning, he didn’t regret his decision to hand the ball to Jimenez. The senior reliever struggled with control in his shortened appearance but the Tanners supported Jimenez and gutted out the victory.
“The game’s important but for me there’s bigger things than that,” Bettencourt said. “James’ whole family came to see him pitch today. Granted, it wasn’t they wanted to see but I wasn’t going to leave him on the bench on Senior Night. I feel everything happens for a reason and it worked out. It got tight but we won the game.”
Peabody (11-7) plays Wakefield Saturday (6:30) in the Geanoulis Tournament. Swampscott has a quick turnaround with a game at St. John’s Prep this afternoon (4). The Big Blue need two wins, with four games remaining, to earn a berth in states.
