PEABODY — The summer may be winding down, but don’t tell that to the Peabody West Little League all-star team. After the team was honored by the governor at the State House last week, Peabody West came home to attend a ceremony held in their honor at City Hall Thursday afternoon.
Each Peabody West player was given a certificate of achievement from Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. and a “Peabody Pride” pin; the small banquet included pizza, chicken fingers, drinks and ice cream.
“It’s obviously been a tough couple of years for a lot of us in the city and across the nation, so it’s always nice to be able to celebrate a great achievement like this,” said Bettencourt. “What Peabody West Little League was able to do this year really brought a lot of pride to our community, and we’ll never forget it.”
After taking a team photo in front of City Hall, the team went inside for the ceremony. After some opening remarks, Bettencourt called up Peabody West manager Mark Bettencourt to say a few words.
“I’ll tell you what, for a team that people didn’t think could make it out of our district, we really showed what we were made of this year,” said Mark Bettencourt. “I can’t thank the city enough for all of its support this year, and the way the community rallied around this team is what keeps me here and what makes me proud to be from here.”
The summer run got started in the District 16 Tournament, when Peabody West — which was by no means a favorite coming in — dropped the first game of the tournament and fell right into the losers’ bracket.
That was the final loss the team would suffer for some time, as Peabody West won out the rest of the way and found itself in the District 16 title game against cross-town rival Peabody. The fireworks continued there, as Gabe Casiano came through with a clutch, walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to push Peabody West on to the Section 4 Tournament.
The hot streak continued at the next stage, as Peabody West found the big bats and got multiple home runs from the likes of Mark Bettencourt Jr. and Brendan Kobierski. The pitching was solid the whole way as well, with guys like Cullen Pasterick, Jimmy DiCarlo and Aidan Horgan all throwing quality innings throughout the tournament. All of that carried Peabody West into the Section 4 title game against Reading, where Bettencourt Jr. and Kobierski each smashed a home run en route to a 4-2 victory and a berth in the state championship tournament.
The first real bit of adversity came in the four-team final, where Peabody West lost its first two games and once again found itself with its backs against the wall. Peabody West needed to both win and put together a big run differential in order to finish as one of the top two teams. It did just that, beating Needham National, 8-0, to punch its ticket to the big game. Next up was Pittsfield American, and Peabody West dispatched them 6-5 to win Peabody’s first Little League state championship since 2009.
Peabody West then became Team Massachusetts and made the trip down to Bristol, Conn. for the New England Regional. After getting a first-round bye, Peabody West beat Maine in its tournament opener and earned a trip right into the semifinal. But unfortunately the magic ran out there, as Peabody West dropped back-to-back games to Connecticut and New Hampshire to see its season come to an end.
It’s been an incredible summer for sports in Peabody. In addition to Peabody West’s run, the Peabody seventh- and eighth-grade girls lacrosse team took home a state championship of its own. And let’s not forget Olympian Heather MacLean, who will be honored for her achievements on Saturday, which has been dubbed “Heather MacLean Day” in Peabody.
“We’ve been incredibly lucky to have had such a great sports summer in Peabody this year,” said Mayor Bettencourt. “To be able to follow along with everyone’s progress all year long has really lifted everyone’s spirits across the city. We’re all very proud.”