LYNN — The matchup is now set. On Thursday, Swampscott’s Little League All-Stars will face Peabody West at Wyoma in the District Tournament finals.
Swampscott advanced to the finals with a decisive 12-4 victory over Saugus at Gallagher Park Tuesday.
On the impending battle with West Swampscott, Manager Jeremy Kacuba said, “Peabody West won the state last year; they are an incredible ball club. We have seen them play a few times. They play like a bunch of professionals.”
He added, “We are just going to go out and compete, play hard with them. We want to make sure it is a ball game for Peabody West, but they are a good club; we cannot take anything for granted, and I know they will not either because they are a classy ball club.”
To win the district, Swampscott will have to beat West twice because West has yet to lose in the tournament. Even so, Kacuba said the mindset is to take every game one pitch at a time.
The score of last night’s game was deceiving as, for a while, it looked like the game was going to come down to the wire.
In the top of the first, Saugus struck first by being patient at the plate. Swampscott’s starting pitcher Beau Olivieri walked the first three batters, and the bases were loaded early.
However, Olivieri struck back; he went through the inning relatively unscathed, only allowing one run on an Eli Fialho weak grounder that was essentially a bunt down the third-base line.
Swampscott responded with their bats riding the momentum of getting out of a bases-loaded jam. After Olivieri walked, Miles Brown hit a double off the fence.
With runners on second and third, Will Rowe hit an RBI-single to tie the game at one apiece. Then with runners in scoring position, the next batter Jack Pavey hit an RBI triple giving Swampscott a 3-1 lead.
The game stayed relatively quiet with no scoring until the top of the third, when Saugus roared back to take the lead. Aaron Connor hit a long double and subsequently advanced to third on a passed ball. Connor was then driven in by a sacrifice ground out by Edvin Rovcanin.
Saugus then used a two-out rally to their advantage on the back of a two-RBI triple by Patrick Hurley to make it 4-3 in their favor.
Swampscott’s bats went quiet in the bottom of the third, but they awoke in a big way in the next inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Swampscott had a rally of their own. After Michael Hall hit a bloop single to center field, Olivieri drove him in to tie the game. Then what proved to be the game’s turning point occurred when Teddy O’Neill hit a two-run bomb to give Swampscott a 6-4 lead.
After O’Neill’s home run, Saugus’ offense dried up, and Swampscott never looked back. They put up six runs in the bottom of the fifth, effectively ending the game.
Hall, Olivieri, O’Neill, Brown, and Rowe all continued their spectacular nights, each getting another RBI. Rowe eventually scored on a wild pitch, making the game 12-4, and went out the next inning on the mound to close out the game.
For Saugus, the run ended, but Manager Mike Fronduto was proud of the effort Tuesday night and throughout the tournament.
“We did a good job. I honestly wish we got to play a little bit more baseball; we had long layoffs. It was a good effort, but we had an inning get away from us. Unfortunately, it probably should have been a little bit closer, but hats off to them; they played a hell of a game over there,” said Fronduto.
