PEABODY — The city has now won two of the Stan Brown tournament divisions this year. The 9-year-olds won on Sunday, and the 12s won Monday night. Peabody beat Beverly 12-4 to win the tournament after having to battle back through the elimination bracket.
“It was a tough game in the beginning, but we pulled it out in the end. We got up early with a couple of unbelievable home runs, and we never looked back after that,” said Peabody’s Manager Phil Ragusa. “These kids have been playing some hot baseball lately.”
Peabody came out strong with Mikey Harris hitting a solo home run, putting them in the lead early in the top of the first.
Beverly went one, two, and three in the bottom of the first.
Peabody’s lead-off man Ryan Skerry walked in the top of the second. Patrick Prideaux came out ready to fire, hitting one over the left field fence, making the score 3-0. Brody Burke then walked before heading to third on Ragusa’s double. Both Burke and Ragusa were left stranded.
Beverly’s Nate Pasquarello hit a single in the bottom of the second, only to be left on.
“This was seven in a row for these guys. We lost the first game of this tournament, so we had to win five games in a row to get to the championship. And then we had to beat this team two times to win,” said Ragusa. “This is actually the team that put us in the losers bracket, to begin with. So we lost to them earlier on in the tournament and fought all the way back.”
Peabody went one two three in the top of the third.
Ari Weiss hit a single in the bottom of the third for Beverly but was left stranded.
Harris started off the top of the fourth with a single before stealing second. Geo Capo hit a double, bringing Harris home, making the score 4-0. Capo then stole third. Skerry walked before stealing second. Capo then went home on Ricky Williams’ single, making the score 5-0. Skerry then stole home, bringing the score to 6-0. Nick Demonico then hit a double, moving Williams to third.
“They’re (Beverly) a really good team, but we had the pitching depth to get it done, and that’s about it. We got some really good pitching from the guys, and we expected to do a good job,” said Ragusa. “We hit the ball today. We put up runs, and we never looked back.”
Cam Barber hit a single to lead off Beverly in the bottom of the fourth. Barber then stole second. Pasquarello and Finn Williams walked. Barber then came home, making the score 6-1. Pasquarello and Williams both came home on Cole Oliveira’s double, making the score 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
Ragusa walked in the top of the fifth before stealing second but was caught stealing third. Dylan Crosby then walked before stealing second and third. Jared Devereaux walked before Ty Lomasney singled, bringing in Crosby and scoring 7-3.
Liam Brown walked in the bottom of the fifth for Beverly before stealing second. He then moved to third on Henry Sahovey’s single and proceeded to steal home on a wild pitch bringing the score to 7-4.
Peabody had an explosive sixth inning Johnny Deloreto hit a single to lead off before stealing second. Skerry then singled, moving Deloreto to third. Deloreto then came home on Prideaux’s double, making the score 8-4. Demonico and Ragusa then walked. Skerry then stole home to bring the score to 9-4. Prideaux then came home, making the score 10-4. Williams came home when Crosby walked, making the score 11-4. Demonico then came home when Brandon Beals walked, making the score 12-4. Beals Ragusa and Crosby all were left on in the top of the sixth.
“This is a mixture of Peabody and Peabody West little league. They allowed them to play together in this tournament. They’re just a bunch of buddies who never really got to play together growing up, but their friends now, and they go to the same middle school,” said Ragusa. “They all formed this team basically together. I just volunteered to coach it. I got help from some of the other coaches, plus they are my friends. It’s basically a team of friends.”
Williams hit a single in the bottom of the sixth but was left stranded as the game came to an end, with the final score being 12-4 Peabody.
“I give all the credit to them. They played the game, they threw the pitchers, and they hit the ball. We’re just here to support and kind of guide them in the right spots to make the plays,” said Ragusa. “So all the credit goes to them.”
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected].
