LYNN — The rivalry between Peabody and Peabody West was renewed Friday at Charlie Reinfuss Field, with West pummeling Peabody 11-1 in four innings to win the Sawyer/Walsh Tournament Championship.
“The kids were very excited about today’s game. They were scared about losing the game to rain, but they were excited to actually come out here and play, so it was awesome,” said West Coach Phil Ragusa.
West struck quickly with its first at-bats of the game. After two walks, a couple of wild pitches, and a steal, runners were on the corners. Cam Segee hit a grounder back to the Peabody’s Pitcher Wes Weed, who tried to throw home but could not get it there quick enough.
With a 1-0 lead, West continued to pour it on with a 2-RBI double by Logan LaTorella. After Owen Skerry hit a bloop single to center field to get runners on the corners again, Leo Pietrosanto knocked in one run with a sacrifice single to make it 4-0.
The next batter Reid Ruffing hit a grounder to third and another run scored to extend West’s lead to 5-0, ending the inning to the single-inning run mercy rule.
Skerry, who was active with his bat, was also fantastic on the mound shutting down Peabody, and his offense took advantage of it. Peabody could only muster one run in the top of the second after West’s offensive avalanche.
West’s patience at the plate in the bottom of the second helped it stretch its lead even more. After a few walks and an infield single by Luca Mosca, the bases were loaded. Another walk and grounder to the pitcher, which was thrown over the catcher’s head, scored two more runs to make it 7-1.
On the ropes, Peabody turned to a new pitcher, Chris Harris, who settled in and got three straight outs to end what was another tough inning for Peabody.
The scoring barrage for West continued in the bottom of the third with a 2-RBI single by Ruffing that went under the shortstop and center fielder’s gloves, making the game 9-1. Ruffing went on to score on a passed ball, and West had a 10-1 lead before Harris could get out of the jam.
Skerry continued his dominance on the mound until the end of the game, and Peabody could not muster any more runs or even really threaten to score.
To ice the game in the bottom of the fourth, Segee hit a weak grounder that was almost like a bunt down the third base line and scored a run to take the 11-1 mercy rule victory and championship.
Ragusa was delighted with his team’s performance, citing the team’s depth, and also pointed to all the help and support he gets from his coaching staff and the parents to make victories like these possible.
“The thing about our team is we have a lot of depth. We have a lot of good pitching, a lot of good fielding, and we are actually in two tournaments right now, so to manage that tournament and this one with the pitching it is hard,” said Ragusa.
“We just have a lot of depth there at pitching, and that is what has been the key really; defense and pitching,” he continued.
