ANDOVER — The District 16 champion Peabody Little League 12-year-old All-Star team closed the summer season on a high note, defeating District 15 champion Hamilton-Wenham 7-2 in the Section 4 tournament at Deyermond Field Saturday night.
Mason Clickstein (run) and Jariel Tolentino led the offense with two hits each. James Smith had a key two-out double, while Scott Cabral and Tolentino had clutch RBI base hits.
Anthony Alvarado had a big day with a double and two runs scored, while Joey Smith and McKenna also had base hits.
Matt Smith (2 innings) Tyler Santos (3 innings) and Andrew McKenna (1 inning) combined for the win.
With the score tied at 1-1, Peabody broke the game wide open with a six-run fourth inning.
“We played excellent on defense and I don’t think we made a single error,” said manager Justin Powers. “We got a good mix of walks and hits to put together that big inning and we were able to get everyone equal at-bats and moved kids in and out, so that was great for everyone. James, Scott and Jariel had big base hits and we got great pitching from Matt, Tyler and Andrew.”
Peabody finished the sectional tourney 1-2.
“Overall, I don’t think any team in the section was better than us, but in both losses the other teams just made a couple more plays than we did,” said Powers. “We just got outplayed. Overall, our downfall was we left too many chances on the bases.”
Powers highlighted the play of Jayce Jeanpierre in his first year playing for Peabody.
“He was just spectacular,” said Powers. “He hard the ball hard and I think had three home runs in districts and three more in sectionals and, even when he wasn’t hitting it out of the park, he was hitting it hard. His hits really lifted the team and injected a lot of energy and confidence in the team.”
PEABODY JUNIOR SOFTBALL
Peabody 14, Orange, Conn., 2
In Orange, the Tanners Junior All-Star team made history Sunday morning at the Little League East Regional Softball Tournament.
The Tanners defeated host Orange, 14-2, at Old Tavern Field to make it out of pool play, becoming the first Peabody softball team ever to qualify for the elimination portion of the regional tournament.
With a 2-1 record, the Tanners earned the No. 2 seed in the New England bracket and will take on the No. 3 seed in the Mid-Atlantic bracket (TBD) Tuesday at 4:30.
“Today we jumped out of the box quickly, and that was key,” said coach Mike Alperen. “We ran the bases aggressively, we hit from top to bottom of the lineup and we didn’t take our foot off the gas. It was a good game for us and it’s great to be moving on to the next round.”
Abby Bettencourt went the distance in the circle, striking out 10 while walking four and allowing only three hits.
She helped herself at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases. Older sister Isabel wasn’t too shabby either with three hits and three runs scored.
Julia Fure also had a big day, going 2-for-2, while Gina Terrazzano, Penny Spack ( run), Jaeilala Aupont, Paige Ritchie, Michaela Alperen (run) and Hailey Roach (2 runs) also helped the cause with base hits.
