LYNN — The Lynn English baseball team opened up its season under the lights at Fraser Field Monday night, taking down Medford by a score of 7-4 in a Greater Boston League showdown.
Manuel Taveras took the mound for the Bulldogs to start the game and pitched very well for his season debut, notching six strikeouts and only allowing two runs through four innings. Victor Cambero came in to start the fifth inning to relieve Taveras and struck out the side to start, and proceeded to strike out two more batters in the sixth.
The offense for the Bulldogs was led by Eldrian Bonilla, who had four RBI and a double in his four at-bats.
“We have a great pitching staff — Taveras and Cambero really came out and did their job,” said English coach Esteban Paula. “I just kept telling them, ‘just focus on throwing strikes. Even if the call isn’t going our way, keep throwing those strikes.'”
What appeared to be an easy win for Lynn English during the early innings quickly turned into a competitive game as the Mustangs started to bounce back. In the first inning, Justin Curcio started on the mound for the Mustangs, but came out just as quickly as he started after walking the first four batters of the inning. The Mustang’s woes continued as the Bulldogs offense grabbed two more runs to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.
As the contest continued, English built upon its lead, getting two more runners across the plate behind Bonilla’s ground-rule double to deep left field.
“The whole atmosphere of our team shifted after that hit,” said Paula. “Everyone was excited, and it really just shifted everything for us.”
However, Medford wasn’t going down without a fight, and responded with some offense of its own to kick off the third as the Mustangs sent two runs across the plate thanks to an RBI single to right field by Owen Kelly and a grounder to short by Thomas Slowe.
No matter the momentum the Mustangs were able to gain from their big third inning, those hopes were quickly dashed by the Bulldogs’ offense. English was able to extend its lead behind an RBI triple by Joshua Jimenez, and its defense came up big by not allowing any more runs by the start of the sixth inning.
Going into the final inning leading 7-2, Medford started to mount a comeback bringing home two more runs, however Cambero closed out the game for the Bulldogs with a strikeout, notching their first win of the season.
“Last year, our first loss came from Medford, and it stung,” said Paula. “This time, we just had to go out and do our job. It’s always a different atmosphere when we play Medford.”
English (1-0) is set to take on Revere Wednesday afternoon (4), weather permitting.
