LYNN– Manager Chris Carroll and the North Shore Phillies are glad they’re among the final four teams standing in the North Shore Baseball League playoffs. The Phillies punched their ticket to the NSBL semifinal over the weekend by defeating Swampscott in the deciding game of a best-of-three opening-round series. In the process, North Shore avenged last summer’s first-round exit at the hands of Swampscott.
“I think every year’s different,” Carroll said. “Don’t get me wrong, I think overall it felt good to get out of the first round and move on to the second round. To come back and beat a team that beat us last year is satisfying but more than anything else we’re just happy to be moving on to the second round of the playoffs.”
The Phillies didn’t make things easy on themselves in the opening round. They dropped the first game 7-2 on their home grass at Breed. In Game 2, North Shore’s bats exploded for a 13-8 win. Kyle Gauthier and Mario Padovani pitched the Phillies to a 6-2 win in Game 3, with Matt Burnham, Andrew Manni and Jairo Valdez powering the offense.
“We feel good,” Carroll said. “We knew we were going to have a tough first round matchup with Swampscott. I think our pitching has been a strength for us. Our hitting has come around. If we can tighten up some things on defense, that’s our main focus right now, I think we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Next up for the Phillies is a tall task in the top-seeded Kingston Night Owls who finished the regular season 21-3. The semifinal round is a best three out of five series.
“It’s a team we certainly have a lot of history with,” Carroll said. “We’ve seen them multiple times in the past five, six years in the playoffs. We’re expecting a battle. They’re the top seed for a reason and they’ve won multiple titles in the past four, five years.
“The top four seeds were all separated by four games,” Carroll said. “We have to go up there and do what we do. We pitch well. We have a deep pitching staff and that’s well known. We need timely hitting and great defense. I think that’s the recipe to win and any manager will tell you that. We’re very confident in our ability to beat anybody in the NSBL.”
The good news for North Shore is the Phillies handed Kingston two of their losses. But Carroll’s group approaches the postseason as a new slate.
“The regular season’s great,” Carroll said. “The playoffs are a completely different animal. It’s kind of a whole new year. We pitched well and played good defense in those games. We got hits, whether it was 2-out base hits or putting together a bunch of hits. We were able to build leads. We feel very comfortable giving our starters leads early in the game.”
The series begins Tuesday night (8) at Haverhill Stadium.
“We have a great group,” Carroll said. “It’s an experienced veteran group. Our team has played together anywhere from seven to 10 years. We’ve added some youth over the past few years. That has elevated us. It’s a lot of fun to be one of the final four teams playing. What makes it better is that it’s a great group. It’s a fun group to manage and a fun group to be a part of.”
