Things are looking great for Lynn Babe Ruth after this weekend’s slate of games. The 13, 14 and 15-year-old All-Star teams all finished pool play in their respective state championship tournaments and all three finished with a perfect 4-0 record.
“63 cities and towns are involved in these tournaments and many have teams at each (age group),” Lynn Babe Ruth president Jeff Earp said. “Lynn is the only community to have three undefeated teams. Their success is attributed to hard work and perhaps more importantly that they all play together as one. They play for each other. It’s fantastic to see kids from all over this big city come together and become close and united as they face the best of the best in the state.”
The 15s started off the weekend with a win over Newton Friday and then traveled to Reading Monday for a chance to lock up the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
And the 15s got the job done, winning 4-0 thanks to some great offensive performances. Brendan Falasca led the way, going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and 2 RBI’s while Daniel Ortiz went 2-for-4 with a single and a triple.
TJ Walsh got the nod on the mound and dominated through seven shutout innings with five strikeouts.
“These guys wanted this badly,” Manager Christian Burt said after the win. “They wanted to play at home for the North Final Championship and earn the right to play for the State Championship.
“Everyone on this team listens, does there job and they were right on all night (Monday),” Burt said.
Lynn Babe Ruth 14s capped off their pool play of the COVID games with a perfect 3-0 record afetr a 14-7 win over Dracut Friday, clinching the No. 1 seed and advancing to the State Cross over games.
The offense came early and often with Lynn scoring four runs in the top of the first inning fueled by a two-run double by catcher John Disia.
Juniel Guzman got the start on the mound for Lynn and also got off to a hot start, striking out the side in the bottom of the first.
Janier Rodriguez started off the 2nd inning with a perfectly placed bunt. Rodriguez later stole second base and was driven home by a single off the bat of Almani Medina to Lynn ahead it 5-0.
With a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the third, Lynn started to run into some trouble. Three walks and a pair of singles allowed Dracut to creep back into the game, cutting the Lynn lead to 6-3, but that was as close as things would get.
Anthony Cedeno came in to pitch and got Lynn out of the jam. The offense followed by scoring eight runs — two in the fifth inning and six in the sixth — highlighted by a bases clearing double from Gabe Diaz.
Diaz came in to pitch the seventh and sealed the win for Lynn. Lynn now awaits its opponent in the next round of the COVID cup.
The 13s continued Lynn’s winning ways in their 9-3 win over Peabody at Breed Saturday.
Devin Wlodkowski started things off on the mound, pitching four innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out nine with one walk. Gio Batista earned the win, pitching the final three innings and allowing no runs on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Lynn jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. Batista walked and made his way around the bases before scoring on a passed ball.
But Peabody responded thanks to the bat of Andrew Jackson (3-for-3 on the day). Jackson knocked in a pair of runs in the second and another in the fourth inning to put Peabody ahead 3-1.
But Lynn was resilient. Andy Beras got things going with a one-out single in the fourth and later scored on a wild pitch. Alex Lara’s RBI brought home Brendan O’Regan later in the inning to tie things up at 3-3.
Lynn took back the lead in the fifth. Jojo Hernandez led things off with a single and stole second base. Jared Paone knocked Hernandez in with a single and Wilfredo Perez kept the offense going with an RBI single as well. Later, with runners on second and third Anthony Alvarado laced a two-out, two-RBI double to left center to put Lynn up 6-3.
Lynn added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a pair of walks and a Peabody error to go ahead 9-3. Peabody got a pair of runners on in the seventh but Batista closed things down to seal the win.
The 13s are back on the field Tuesday at 5:30 at Breed versus the winner of tMonday’s Medford-Arlington game. The 14s play Tuesday at home against Newton (8) while the 15s host Reading Wednesday (6)
