LYNN — What a difference a year makes.
A year removed from an 8-12 season in which the English baseball team missed out on the state tournament, the Bulldogs are erasing their doubts in 2019. Tuesday’s 10-3 win over Somerville was another step in the right direction.
“We’re making better plays this year,” Bulldogs coach Doug Mullins said. “We’re walking less batters, we’re playing much better defense. Last year we were in a lot of big spots and made errors in key spots. We were in a lot of games. We lost five games by one run. It felt like we couldn’t make that key play. This year we’re making the plays we need to make.”
The key to Tuesday’s win was a seven-run rally in the bottom of the second. Somerville pushed across three runs in the top of the fourth but the game was never in doubt.
“It would’ve been nice to carry that on a little bit,” Mullins said. “The guys came with a good approach. They fed off one another. We have good chemistry on the team. When we see one guy produce it carries over to the next guy. We have to carry that on for longer periods of time but that second inning was nice. We had a couple doubles, triples and took advantage of Somerville’s mistakes.”
English starter Jomar Moreta threw the first three innings. Moreta sent Somerville three-up, three-down in each frame with four strikeouts. Ethan Labbe sealed the deal with four scoreless innings of relief. Labbe struck out six and allowed three hits.
“That was Ethan’s first pitching appearance this year,” Mullins said. “We knew he could throw. He threw a lot last year on JV. To come with the bases loaded with nobody out, he came in and strikes. He stepped up and ate some innings up. We have possibly four games in five days so we need somebody to come in and eat innings. He did a good job with that.”
Juan Subervi (1-for-3, RBI) put the Bulldogs on the board with a RBI single, scoring Jose Morel (3-for-4, RBI), in the bottom of the first. After a 1-2-3 top of the second, English took complete control with its seven-run spurt. Justin Flores reached via error to start the inning and took third base on a passed ball. Clodys Parandys (2-for-2, RBI) tripled Flores home for the 2-0 edge. Moreta reached on an error, scoring Parandys with English’s third run. The rally continued with Andy Duverge’s (2-for-3, RBI) RBI single and Morel’s RBI double. Albert Torres (1-for-4) singled to left field and a misplayed ball allowed Torres, along with Subervi and Morel, to cross home plate. When it was all said and done, English held an 8-0 lead.
Somerville scored its three runs on a RBI double and a 2-RBI single in the fourth. The Highlanders threatened for more but Labbe closed the door with three consecutive strikeouts to end the frame.
English capped the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Julien Silvestrie (1-for-3), who laced a one-out single, raced home on a wild pitch. Parandys, who reached on an error, took home on a double-steal.
Now at 6-3 on the season, the Bulldogs feel they’re in a good place. English needs four wins in 11 games to seal a state tournament bid.
“We have a lot of talent, we have a lot of different pieces,” Mullins said. “We can pitch, we can play defense and can hit a little bit. We’re starting to put complete games together and we need to be a little more sound. We have some mental breakdowns. We’ve talked about that in practice and we need to carry that into games. If we tighten up, come with a good approach at-bat and play complete games, we’re going to be alright.”
The Bulldogs host Medford Thursday night (7) at Fraser. Medford handed English one of its three losses, a 3-1 Mustangs win April 17.
