PEABODY — The Peabody baseball team did what it does best to pull out the win in its season opener Tuesday afternoon, relying on strong pitching and capitalizing on its offensive opportunities to take down Salem by a score of 5-0 in a Northeastern Conference battle at Donahue Field.
The star of the game was undoubtedly Tanners pitcher Joe Raymond, who tossed a complete-game shutout and pounded the strike zone all game long. Raymond allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out 12 Salem batters.
“Joe’s the guy who goes out there and throws strikes, and that’s the kind of thing we’re going to have to rely on this year,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “Pitching and defense is going to be this team’s bread and butter this year, and we were able to do all the little things today in order to pull out the win.”
On the offensive side of things, Tanner’s senior Justin Powers went 1-for-3 with two RBI and sophomore infielder Mike Petro notched a pinch-hit, two-run single of his own. Ryan Brunet went 1-for-3 with one RBI, Mike Krouse went 1-for-4 with a single and Brendan Smith went 1-for-3 with a single.
“We’re not a team that’s going to go out there and smash 40 home runs,” said Bettencourt. “We scored five unearned runs today, but we also had five RBI. The key for us is going to be capitalizing on those small opportunities when we get them.”
For Salem, Jack Doyle, Alex Paulino and Riley Fenerty each went 1-for-3. Fenerty also got the start on the mound and pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on three hits with six strikeouts.
The Tanners had the momentum rolling early, thanks largely to the energy and effectiveness of Raymond on the mound. The southpaw came right out and struck out the side in the top of the first inning, then grabbed two more strikeouts in the top of the second.
That opened things up for the Tanners’ offense, and Powers put Peabody on the board in the bottom of the second with a two-run single to right field.
The school remained there for the next four innings, although three separate times Raymond had to work his way out of jams with multiple Salem runners on base. He came through with flying colors each time, and heading into the bottom of the sixth Peabody still held a 2-0 lead.
The bottom of the sixth saw Peabody stretch out its lead even more, starting with Brunet knocking in a run to make it a three-run game. Finally, Petro stepped into the box with two men on and one man out and he laced the ball into the outfield for a two-run single to make it 5-0.
That was more than enough for Raymond, who came out in the top of the seventh and struck out the first two batters before Wasserman drew a walk to extend the inning. But Raymond didn’t let it get any farther, as he struck out pinch hitter Bryan Pena to end the game and seal the victory for the tanners.
Salem (0-1) plays on the road at Swampscott Friday (4).
Peabody (1-0) will now take on Newton North in a non-league matchup Thursday afternoon (4).
“We want to schedule teams that have tradition and that win 15, 16 games a year,” said Bettencourt when talking about his philosophy on scheduling now that power rankings will be taking effect for the state tournament seating. “Newton North is an incredible program with a great history of winning, and it’s a great way for us to see where we stand at this early point in the season. You always want to test yourself against great teams as a barometer for your own success, and we’ll see where we stand come Thursday.”
