PEABODY — Behind a nine-run rally in the top of the seventh inning, the Marblehead baseball team came from behind to take down Northeastern Conference foe Peabody by a score of 11-5 on the road Wednesday afternoon. The Magicians benefitted in part from a tough defensive inning for Peabody, as the Tanners made three errors in the top of the seventh alone and Marblehead responded with nine unearned runs.
“I think one of the things we benefit from is that we have a ton of guys who can play a lot of different roles for us, and we were eventually able to get two guys in scoring position and put a lot of pressure on the defense,” said Marblehead coach Mike Giardi. “The guys just kept battling all night, but at the same time we have to come out more focused early in the game. We gave them a couple of runs early, but the way we battled our way out of it was great to see.”
For the Tanners, who were three outs away from a solid NEC victory before three errors led to all nine runs in the seventh inning being unearned, it’s a tough loss to take.
“That was the ultimate implosion,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “In a game where every pitch mattered and every base mattered, to have that game end like that was just depressing. That’s not us, that’s not what we usually do. So now, our guys have to take a look in the mirror.”
AJ Andriano earned the win on the mound in relief for the Magicians, pitching 1 1/3 innings and allowing one run on two hits. Ben Weed pitched the first 5 2/3, allowing four runs on five hits with three strikeouts.
On the offensive side of things, Schuyler Schmitt went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the way. Shane Keough went 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Sami Loughlin (2-for-3) and Andrew Titus (1-for-4) each had one RBI.
Justin Powers took the tough-luck loss for the Tanners, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing 11 runs (two earned) on seven hits with eight strikeouts.
Brendan Smith led the Peabody offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Nick Villano (1-for-4, double), Mike Krause (1-for-3) and Scott Hurley (0-for-2) each had one RBI in the loss.
The Tanners got off to a great start, scoring in the bottom of the first behind an RBI double from Smith and then tacking on another on an RBI groundout from Hurley in the bottom of the second. In the bottom of the fifth, the Tanners scored on a fielder’s choice to take a 3-0 lead.
Marblehead finally got things going in the top of the sixth, starting with an RBI double from Schmitt to make it 3-1. Loughlin added an RBI single of his own to make it 3-2, but Peabody was able to escape the inning without further damage.
After Krause put Peabody ahead 4-2 with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, the Tanners needed just three outs to walk away with the win.
But Marblehead had other plans.
A walk, a fielder’s choice and a groundout put runners on second and third with one out, then a throwing error brought home the first Magicians run. Another walk loaded the bases, then another Peabody error tied the game at 4-4. Things continued downhill for the Tanners from there, as Schmitt laced a two-run single to give Marblehead a 6-4 lead. Another error with the bases loaded brought home two more runs, then a two-run double from Keough blew the game open at 10-4. One more Peabody error capped things off, as Marblehead brought home one more run to round out the scoring.
Peabody (5-4) will try to rebound against Salem Thursday afternoon (4).
“I told the guys after the game, ‘fellas, you know what’s worse than this? Coming out (Thursday) and not playing well and losing to Salem,’” said Bettencourt. “That’s going to be worse. We can’t press rewind and play this seventh inning again. What’s done is done, so we have to move on and come out with a better effort (Thursday).”
Marblehead (7-2) plays on the road at Swampscott Friday evening (6:30).
“I think for us, this was just another learning experience,” said Giardi. “Everything we do now is learning as we lead up to that tournament at the end of the year, and we made a couple of mistakes early that we want to learn from.”
