LYNN — Despite giving up the lead two different times, the Lynn 13-year-old all-star team never wavered and continued to battle back, eventually pulling off a 6-5 win over Parkway in a Babe Ruth tournament game Wednesday evening at Fraser Field.
“We jumped out early and got off to a great start, but we had a couple mental lapses both in the field and on the basepaths and we let (Parkway) right back into the game,” said Lynn Coach John Peterson. “Luckily, we were able to pitch well and come up with some really timely hits to pull out the win.”
Justin Jennings came up huge for Lynn in the victory, going 2-for-3 with a clutch triple and an RBI. Devin Duvall went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while JJ Avery (1-for-2), Jake Peterson (0-for-2) and Nate Cutone (0-for-2) each added an RBI.
Avery also earned the win on the mound in relief, tossing two scoreless innings and allowing only two hits with three strikeouts. Peterson got the start and went the first five innings, giving up five runs on three hits with 10 strikeouts.
“Those guys are both so dependable and they don’t give up many hits, so really for us it’s about not making all those errors behind them,” said Peterson, citing the five errors his squad made. “If we can limit the mistakes out there, those guys give us a chance to win every time out.”
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Lynn was able to push across a couple of runs in the bottom of the second. A hit batter and a pair of fielder’s choice plays put runners on second and third with two outs, then Avery stepped up and lined a two-run single over the second baseman’s head to make it a 2-0 game.
The 13s extended that lead even further in the bottom of the third, starting things off with a single from Jimmy Jennings. After he moved to third thanks to a passed ball and a stolen base, Duvall knocked Jimmy Jennings home with an RBI double. Next up was Justin Jennings, who laced an RBI single to put Lynn ahead 4-0.
But Parkway was able to battle back to within one in the top of the fourth. It all started with a dropped third strike that allowed Jack Shapiro to reach base, then a walk and an RBI single put Parkway on the board for the first time. An error on that same play brought home another run for Parkway, then Nuri Gutman notched an RBI groundout to make it a 4-3 game.
But Lynn responded right back.
A walk and a single put a runner in scoring position for Cutone, who recorded an RBI groundout to give Lynn a 5-3 lead.
Parkway tied the game up at 5-5 in the top of the fifth on a two-run single from Daniel Colon, setting up the late-game heroics for Lynn.
After a strikeout to start the inning, Justin Jennings stepped in and laced a one-out triple to get into scoring position. Next up was Peterson, who notched a sacrifice fly to bring home the eventual game-winning run.
Avery shut the door from there, striking out two of the final three batters he faced to seal the win.
The Lynn 13s (5-0) now move on to the state semifinal round on Friday, with their opponent, time and place of the game to be determined.
“For us, it’s all about limiting those mistakes,” said Peterson. “We’re going to hit the field for practice (Thursday), show up on Friday and see what happens out there.”
