PEABODY — There’s nothing more demoralizing to a team than to allow a two-out rally.
However, the West Lynn American District 16 All-Stars saw opponent Peabody West score six runs after the second out, and it turned a close game at Peabody’s MacArthur Park into a 9-1 rout.
“Our guys had a few bunts, key bunts, a few walks, and a couple base hits at certain times really put the pressure on them and opened it up for us,” said West manager Steve Lomasney. “Our starting pitcher (Andrew Wenzel) was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. He got stronger as the game went on. He made some great pitches and big strikeouts in key situations.”
West Lynn came out of the gates strong, taking the lead in the first inning.
“It was a great game. The whole first half of the game kids just played great and they pitched great. A couple of close calls and it just seemed like the bottom fell off at the end there,” said West Lynn Coach Darren Malloy.
“Their pitcher was good and he was good early. He made some really good pitches early in the game,” said Lomasney. “We kind of saw him the first time. Then the second time around you know we really picked up a couple of things on them and we were able to put the ball in play. And when you put a lot of pressure on the defense like that, it gets hard to play.”
West started its comeback at the bottom of the third by scoring two runs after Wenzel scored, and then Ty Lomasney came home on a wild pitch.
The following inning West added another run. However, the real damage came in the bottom of the fifth — with two outs.
“We’ve just got to continue to have good at-bats. It’s not necessarily getting hits all the time but just having good at-bats. You put pressure on them and you don’t strike out,” said Lomasney. “The first time around we had some strikeouts, the second and third time around we were putting the ball in play. That’s when good things happen.”
Peabody West scored six runs during the rally. It started with Ty Lomasney stealing home with Ricky Williams hot on his heels. Geo Capo and Jacob Sylvester came in next after a double by Wenzel. Lastly Tyler McMahon and Wenzel came home after a pair of wild pitches.
“He (Wenzel) also had two big hits and scored two runs. So Wenzel in my opinion was the MVP of this game for sure.”
Even with Brennan Malloy’s triple and Jackson Barret’s amazing save at short, West Lynn couldn’t find the strength to get back into the game.
“They’re a better team than us. They can score runs at any point, that’s it. We just gotta hold our heads up. Can’t let something like that crumble us. We got another game left all series and we can come back and play them again,” said Malloy.
