LYNN — The East Lynn Mets didn’t lose a single game in the 2019 Lynn City Series, and they weren’t about to start on Thursday.
Behind a stellar pitching performance from Jariel Benzan, some timely hitting and some great plays in the field, East Lynn earned a 4-2 win over the Wyoma Marlins to take home the City Series trophy at Gallagher Park.
“These guys have wanted this since Day One,” said East Lynn manager Matthew Mercedes. “We came up two games short last year, and ever since then this it’s all these guys have been thinking about, getting back here. They were ready to go and they showed it out there.”
Benzan nearly pitched the entire game, only coming out after hitting the pitch count limit in the bottom of the sixth. Benzan pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. Wilfredo Perez earned the one-out save.
Jojo Hernandez went 2-for-3 with one RBI to lead the way at the plate, while Johnny Cruz (1-for-2), Kyle Richardson (1-for-3) and Nate Conde (1-for-3) each had one RBI. Perez went 1-for-3 with one run scored.
For Wyoma, Dylan DeFilippo went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Josh Doney (1-for-2), Kyle Doney (1-for-3), Ben Patrick (1-for-3) and Devin Duval (1-for-3) also added hits.
Kyle Doney pitched a great game for the Marlins, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on four hits with an impressive 14 strikeouts. Duval pitched the final inning, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
“It was a tough game, and we knew it was going to be a battle out there,” said Wyoma manager Abu Patrick. “We were ready, we played a solid game on all sides of the ball, but at the end of the day East Lynn just made some plays out there. But I’m so proud of the team and how they fought back all year long to get to this point. They have nothing to be ashamed of, for sure.”
Wyoma jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a RBI single from DeFilippo, but that lead didn’t last long.
In the top of the second, East Lynn went to work. Hernandez led the inning with a single before stealing second and third base. That made it easy for Cruz, who knocked a RBI single into right-center field to tie the score at 1-1. Two batters later, Richardson gave the Mets a 2-1 lead on a RBI single of his own.
East Lynn added another run in the top of the third inning on a RBI single from Hernandez, taking a 3-1 lead.
That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the fourth, when Wyoma started to claw its way back. After moving a runner to third base, the Marlins got a run back by scoring on a passed ball to make it 3-2.
East Lynn added one insurance run in the top of the sixth thanks to a RBI single from Conde, putting the score at 4-2.
Wyoma wasn’t done, however, and the Marlins moved runners to first and third with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Colin Newhall — who had three RBI in the previous game — stepped to the plate as the winning run and smashed a sinking line drive to right field. But instead of dropping in for a hit to potentially tie the game, nine-year-old Keith Chandler laid out and made a diving snow-cone catch to end the game and clinch the title for East Lynn.
“For a nine-year-old to make a play like that in the biggest situation of the game, I mean there isn’t much more to say than it’s incredible,” Mercedes said. “He’s going to remember that one for awhile.”
