LYNN — The Classical baseball team’s 16-3 win over Somerville Wednesday at Fraser Field was highlighted by what made the 2018 Red Sox tough to beat- timely hitting with two outs and runners on base.
Classical scored 12 runs with two outs and made the most of 11 Somerville errors.
“We took advantage of a lot of mistakes,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “We could’ve hit our pitches a little more often. I think we chased a few things. I know the score doesn’t show that but there’s always something you can work on, no matter who you play. I was happy with the win. A win’s a win, no matter how you get it.”
It was a true team effort at the plate. Aidan Dow drove in four runs and finished 2-for-4. Brendan Lannon (2-for-3, two RBI), Deniel Ortiz (2-for-4, RBI), Ronald Torres (1-for-3, RBI) and Jared DeFilippo (1-for-3, RBI) helped carry the offense.
Rams starter Kyle Finnigan went five innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits. Finnigan struck out five. Freshman Anthony Marino , making his varsity debut on the mound, pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
“I was very proud of Anthony,” Zukowski said. “He threw strikes. He started the year injured so we didn’t know what he really had. We talked with the JV coach, brought him up. We said ‘wow, this kid has potential.’ That’s good to know for weeks when we have three, four games or back to backs. It’s going to help.”
Classical wasted no time jumping out to a quick lead. Nico Galeazzi walked to lead the bottom of the first and Brett Bucklin reached on an error. Dow brought them home with a 2-RBI single to get Classical on the board. A pair of RBI singles from Lannon and Torres gave the Rams a 4-0 lead out of the gate.
The Rams loaded the bases with two outs for DeFilippo in the bottom of the second. DeFilippo laced a sharply hit ground ball and a Somerville throwing error brought three Rams home. DeFilippo scored on Ortiz’s RBI single, boosting Classical’s lead to 8-0 after two innings.
The Rams added another two-out run in the bottom of the third on a Dow RBI single.
And while the Rams mounted a hefty lead, Finnigan worked his way through a couple jams. Somerville left the bases loaded in the first and fourth innings. The Highlanders stranded five runners in scoring position through the first four innings.
“Kyle’s coming off a start at Revere Saturday,” Zukowski said. “We kept his pitch count pretty low that day. Tuesday at practice we were wondering who we were going to throw. Kyle jumped up and said ‘I want to pitch.’ We gave him the ball and he got us through. Kyle did what he was supposed to do and picked up the win.”
Somerville turned things around with a three-run top of the fifth. Classical got all three back in the bottom half with two scoring on Highlanders errors and another on Lannon’s RBI double. DeFilippo added a RBI single, putting Classical up 13-3 through five.
Classical turned four Somerville errors into three more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Marino stamped the win with a 1-2-3 seventh.
The road ahead doesn’t get easier for the Rams. Classical (6-2) travels to Gloucester Friday (4) and hosts Saugus next Monday (4)- two of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference South.
“Gloucester’s a very good team,” Zukowski said. “These are our two crossover games, against teams we’re only going to play once. They’re both at the top of the South Division so these won’t be easy games at all.”
