PEABODY — A two-out rally wasn’t enough for the Peabody West kids as they took a 7-5 loss against Reading at the Wyoma Little League Field Thursday in the Massachusetts state sectional Little League tournament.
“They put a lot of balls in play. They seemed to like everything,” said Peabody West’s Manager Steve Lomasney. “They found a way to find the grass or the dirt and they did a great job. You just gotta tip your cap on a team that goes out there and beats you. That’s just what happens.”
Peabody struggled with their bats during the first inning. Ty Lomasney hit a banger out to left field but was robbed by the left fielder. Andrew Wenzel managed to out run the ball to first to keep the half of the inning alive. Reading had a couple of great hits but yet again Ricky Williams was there in right field for a diving catch.
Tyler McMahon made it home for Peabody West after walking, stealing second and then home on Ryan Skerry’s single that made its way through the legs of Reading’s Andrew Wright pulling the team ahead by one in the second. Peabody’s Jacob Sylvester seemed to get all the action in the bottom of the second. Sylvester made a catch in foul territory and barely missed getting the runner at first as well as rocketing the ball to first for the last out of this inning. Reading took the after hitting a pair to the back fence allowing two to score.
“It’s in our hands. I know this team. This team’s gonna fight back even if they fight right there with two outs. They kept on coming back and it was a little bit too short, too late,” said Lomasney. “ But they’re gonna keep that momentum for tomorrow.”
Peabody West continued to struggle with Reading’s Jack Schuler’s fastball in the third. Landon Lohnes managed to get a hit while Sylvester and Williams walked, however West couldn’t get anyone home. Reading on the other hand had an in the park homerun by 12 making the score 1-3 at the bottom of the third.
Peabody West had something to say in the top of the fourth with Geo Capa and Lomasney bringing the score to a tie 3-3. Reading immediately had an answer with Dylan St. Helaire hitting a lead off homerun out over the center field fence. Reading cycled through their line up bringing up another three runs in the process leading to a score of 3-7 at the bottom of the fourth.
“A couple opportunities with a guy at third base. I think we kinda blew a little bit but that’s baseball. You can’t do it all the time and sometimes they make their pitchers and you gotta tip their cap and that’s what they did,” said Lomasney. “They made some good breaking ball pitches for strikes and they got our guys.”
Williams came out swinging for the center field fence in the top of the fifth. He landed a double before heading to second when McMahon walked. However, both were left stranded on second and third at the third out. Peabody West managed to hold Reading to their four run lead during the bottom of the fifth.
There was a fire lit under Peabody West as they moved into the top of the sixth. With two outs Wenzel was walked. Lohnes hit a single, followed by Williams who walked, making the bases loaded. McMahon hit a single, bringing in Wenzel and Lohnes, leaving runners on the corners. Yet it wasn’t enough to catch Reading with the final score of 5-7.
“They’re 12-year-old kids so you know, the game starts getting fast on them and their minds start racing and a couple miscues definitely. But that’s to be expected, and I would say in every game we’ve played either team has those types of things that happen to them at a certain point in the game,” said Lomasney. “It is what it is. They’ll learn from it and they’ll be better tomorrow.”
