LYNN — The Lynn Classical baseball team continued its impressive start to the season Thursday evening, riding a six-run second inning to an 8-3 victory over Swampscott at Fraser Field.
“It’s always nice to jump out early and get that cushion to play with, but we certainly didn’t make it easy on ourselves out there,” said Classical coach Mike Zukowski. “We took advantage of some mistakes on the other side and got a few timely hits, but there’s still plenty to work on.”
Tyler Wilson had a huge day at the plate for the Rams, going 3-for-4 with two triples and two RBI to lead the way. Almani Medina went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Brady Warren went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Juniel Guzman went 1-for-1 with one RBI, while Knico Ramirez (1-for-3) and Darnell Leon (1-for-2) added hits.
John DiSaia picked up the victory on the mound for Classical, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts. Ramirez finished things off, pitching two innings of relief and allowing no runs on one hit with one strikeout.
John Cuttle went 1-for-3 with a double and one RBI to lead the Swampscott offense, while Harry Riddell went 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI. Matt Schroeder went 0-for-2 with one RBI, while Dariel Echavarria (1-for-3), Aiden Wyse (1-for-4) and Nick Paradise (1-for-1) all had hits.
Joseph Ford got the start and took the loss for the Big Blue, going five innings and allowing eight runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Dawson DiBarri pitched the final inning, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out one.
“We were fighting uphill from the start, both on the mound and at the plate,” said Swampscott coach Joe Caponigro. “I think we left 13 runners on base and nine in scoring position, and you’re not going to win many games like that. We hit a lot of ‘at-em’ balls, and that’s just how it goes sometimes.”
After DiSaia worked quickly through the top of the first inning, Classical came to bat in the bottom of the first and got right to work. After two quick outs, Wilson stepped in and ripped a deep triple to right-center field to set up an opportunity for Warren. The senior shortstop didn’t disappoint, beating out an infield single to drive home Wilson and make it a 1-0 Rams lead.
But the real damage was done in the bottom of the second. It all started when Guzman drew a walk to start the inning. An infield hit and then a hit batter loaded up the bases for Medina, who lined a two-run triple down the left field line to push the lead to 3-0. Although Kyle Durant struck out on the next at-bat, the ball got away and allowed another Classical run to come home and make it for nothing. Then Wilson stepped into the box, and for the second inning in a row he smashed a triple to deep right center field — except this time it drove home two runs and gave Classical a six-run lead. Warren rounded out the scoring in the inning by notching an RBI sacrifice fly, and the Rams took a 7-0 lead into the third.
Swampscott was finally able to answer in the top of the fourth. Cam O’Brien reached on a throwing error to start things off, then he was knocked home on an RBI double from Cuttle to get the big blue on the board. Two batters later, Riddell knocked an RBI double of his own to make it a 7-2 game.
But that was as close as the Big Blue would get, as Classical added one more run on an RBI single from Guzman in the bottom of the fifth before Schroeder’s RBI sac fly in the top of the sixth rounded out the scoring for the game.
Swampscott (3-2) is right back in action Friday afternoon (2) with a home game against Saugus.
“It’s nice that we’ll get a quick chance at redemption by getting right back out on the field,” said Caponigro. “Saugus is always a great program and their coach is a good friend of mine, and we know we’ll once again have our hands full. We’re going to have to come ready to play.”
Lynn Classical (8-1) hosts Chelsea under the lights at Manning Field Monday night (7).
“We’re basically halfway through the season, and after Monday we’ll have played everyone in our league once, so we feel like we have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in our league,” said Zukowski. “We’ve been playing well, but make no mistake about it — we have a lot of work to do and a lot of tough games ahead.”
