LYNN — The Pine Hill Braves needed a win to remain alive in the Lynn City Series and they played like it Monday night, notching a 9-1 win over Lynn Shore at Volunteer Field.
Pine Hill lives to fight another day with the win, while Lynn Shore’s loss ends its season.
Riley Driscoll had a huge day on the mound for Pine Hill Monday, earning the win after tossing 5 1/3 innings and allowing one run on three hits with an impressive 13 strikeouts. Jackson Barrett came on to pitch the final 2/3 of an inning, striking out one.
Driscoll and Barrett also led the offensive attack, both going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Shea Paul went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Elijah Morin had an RBI, four stolen bases and two runs scored. Mason Palladino (1-for-3) and Alphonse Wilhelmson (0-for-2) each added an RBI in the win.
Lynn Shore was only able to muster three hits in the loss, with Shawnie Coleman (1-for-3), Frankie Reyes (1-for-3) and Julian Rodriguez (1-for-2) all notching base hits.
Reyes got the start and took the loss on the mound, going one-plus innings and allowing three runs on two hits with one strikeout. AJ Velasquez then pitched 3 2/3 innings in relief, allowing four runs on two hits with six strikeouts. Pena closed out the day for Lynn Shore, tossing 1 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on two hits with two strikeouts.
Pine Hill didn’t waste any time getting some runs on the board, with Barrett drawing a leadoff walk to start the game before Driscoll knocked him home with an RBI double. After two walks moved Driscoll over to third, Driscoll came home thanks to a passed ball and Pine Hill took a 2-0 lead.
Pine Hill added to its lead in the top of the second. A walk, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice loaded up the bases for Morin, who drew an RBI walk to make it a 3-0 game.
McCloud notched an RBI single in the top of the third to make it 4-0, then Pine Hill went ahead 5-0 in the top of the fourth after Morin walked and then stole second, third and home.
The top of the fifth inning saw Pine Hill push its lead to 7-0 behind RBI from Wilhelmson and Barrett, with Wilhelmson notching an RBI sacrifice bunt and Barrett smashing an RBI double.
Pine Hill rounded out its scoring in the top of the sixth. Morin led off with a walk and stole second before Palladino knocked him home with an RBI single. Three batters later, Paul notched an RBI single of his own to make it a 9-0 game.
But Lynn Shore fought until the very end, and in the bottom of the sixth it was able to avoid the shutout. After Jaydon Pena reached base following a dropped third strike, he made his way to third base behind two passed balls. After one more ball got to the backstop, Pena raced home and grabbed the lone run for Lynn Shore.
That’s when Barrett came in to shut things down, and he forced a strikeout and a groundout to seal the win.
Pine Hill now has a day off before taking on West Lynn in another loser’s bracket game Wednesday evening (5:45) back at Volunteer Field.
The Lynn City Series will continue Tuesday evening (5:45) back at Volunteer Field with a winner’s bracket matchup between Wyoma and East Lynn.
