The Lynn Junior Legion Post 291 baseball team continues to outduel its opponents in the state tournament. Lynn defeated Franklin 13-10 Monday night at Wilbraham’s Farrell Field to remain undefeated (3-0) in the double-elimination tournament.
With the victory, the Lynners advanced to Wednesday’s championship game.
“They came ready to play right out of the gate,” Lynn manager Tony Luciano said. “They attacked the baseball. We batted through the order the first two innings. But then it was like we took our foot off the gas. I liked some stuff but I didn’t like the other parts.”
Lynn ran out to a big lead in the early innings but Franklin, showing no quit, made it a back-and-forth game.
“I liked that we jumped out big,” Luciano said. “We jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second inning. We needed three outs in the fifth inning, up 11-1, for the mercy rule. They scored seven runs the next inning but we came back with two big runs in the top of the seventh.”
Lynn’s bats came to play in this one. Aidan Dow went 4-for-4 to lead the offense. Nico Galeazzi, Terrence Moynihan, Shawn Anderson and Jared DeFillipo also had multi-hit games at the plate.
“The offense broke out,” Luciano said. “They were all hitting the ball hard the games before but it was all right at people. We found the gaps in this one. As good as we were hitting early, Franklin hit it just as well late. Both teams tore the cover off the ball.”
On the mound, Luke Mannion started and delivered two shutout innings. Anderson, Bredan McManus and Lucas Fritz followed in relief. DeFillipo picked up the save.
“Going into the last two days of the tournament, I think we’re strong with our pitching,” Luciano said. “I think Dow’s the only arm that’s unavailable. We’ve lost Moynihan and Luke Mannion until Wednesday at the earliest.”
Although Lynn has already punched its ticket in Wednesday’s tournament final, Lynn will play Tuesday night (8) against Braintree at Farrell Field.
“We’re guaranteed a spot in the final,” Luciano said. “Hopefully we can keep playing the way we’ve been playing, with good offense and good defense.”
