LYNN — Tears of joy and sorrow were falling at Alice O’Neil Field, where West Lynn overthrew last year’s Lynn City Series winner East Lynn 7-4.
“It’s unbelievable. Felt like we weren’t really hitting the ball the whole game, but no. Both teams just back to back,” said West Lynn’s Coach Darren Malloy. “Like they’d score, we score, they score, we score, you know, it was just key at the end, and our 12-year-olds came up huge.”
West Lynn’s Pitcher Jackson Barrett led off with a triple in the top of the first. Aidan Peterson walked and was caught stealing second while Barrett stole home, making the score 1-0. Brennan Malloy also walked in the first but was left stranded at first base.
In the next half inning, East’s Catcher Shawnie Coleman was able to get to first. Before heading to second and noticing that no one was covering third, he made his way to it on a Josue Prandys single. Prandys then stole second, but he and Coleman were left on in the bottom of the first.
The score remained 1-0 for West Lynn in the top of the second. Joel Bosario walked and proceeded to steal second and third but was left on.
“We had our number two pitcher available because we didn’t use him against Pine Hill, and we knew they had their number two,” said East Lynn’s Coach Paul Hartford. “It’s just gonna be whoever the better team is going to survive, and if we get to tomorrow, we had our best versus their best.”
East’s Marc Poste hit a fly ball dropping between left and center field, allowing him to make it to first. Poste was left on in the bottom of the second.
West extended its lead in the top of the third. Barrett hit a double before advancing to third on Peterson’s hit. Barrett then came home on a wild pitch, making the score 2-0.
“Jackson did unbelievable pitching. It was a great game. He did phenomenal batting, too,” said Malloy. “Like I said, he’s one of our 12-year-olds, and we expect those guys to come up big, and they did. They’re the ones that won the game for us, and they should have.”
In the bottom of the third, East crawled back into the game. Anthony Guerrero walked before stealing second and third. Guerrero scored on a Prandys triple, bringing the score to 2-1. West Lynn’s Peterson made a diving catch to end the inning and keep Prandys from scoring.
Devonte Anderson was able to get to first before he stole second and third, knocking the bases loose as he slid in. West Lynn left yet another runner stranded in the top of the fourth.
Things took a turn for East Lynn in the bottom of the fourth. Raiden Vanny hit a double, followed by Poste hitting a double and sending Vanny home. Poste then came home on Micah Torres’s single. Torres followed suit, scoring from first on Jhorwan Vasquez’s triple, allowing East Lynn to take the lead for the first time in the game with a score of 4-2.
West Lynn responded in the top of the fifth first with a Barrett walk. Peterson hit a single, sending Barrett to second. Malloy cleared the bases with his triple before coming home on a wild pitch, taking back the lead and bringing the score to 5-4. Manny Rodriguez walked and proceeded to steal second and third before being left stranded at the end of the inning. East Lynn went three up three down in the bottom of the fifth.
“They’re a tough team. We had to take our pitcher out, and we brought in a 10-year-old. As well as he did, they hit the ball when they needed to, and we didn’t,” said Hartford. “We gave it a shot in the last inning, and we got two guys on. We didn’t go down without a fight. They’re a heck of a team.”
West Lynn’s Devon Bursey was hit by a pitch in the top of the sixth. He proceeded to steal second. Peterson then hit an in-the-park home run, bringing the score to 7-4. Malloy walked and stole second but was left on.
“Aidan, our 11-year-old that came into pitch at the end. You know that takes a lot of poise to show, a lot of pressure to come in a game like that,” said Malloy. “That’s awesome.”
Coleman hit a single in the bottom of the sixth and advanced to second on Vasquez’s single, but both were left on as the final out of the game came, leaving the final score at 7-4.
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected].
