DANVERS — Game 5 of the Northshore Baseball League Championship between the Beverly Recs and the Peabody Champions got the ending it deserved Thurssday night at Twi Field.
The Beverly Recs took the pivotal game five matchup in extra innings, where they were able to hold off a late rally by the Champions to win 7-6. With everything that happened in the first seven innings, it was no wonder that the two teams would need extras to decide the game. The game had everything a baseball fan would want, pitcher’s duels, late game rallies, amazing defensive plays, you name it.
Both pitchers had solid starts on the mound with Rec’s ace Brandon Bingel striking out an impressive 11 batters while going 6 innings. Champion’s starter Nathan Ing was solid himself as he went five innings while striking out five of his own.
Ing was in trouble early as two hard hit balls forced a pair of errors by Peabody, resulting in an unearned run for Ing to make it one to nothing Recs in the top of the first. Ing settled in however, and got himself out of a few jams, including a bases loaded situation early in the game.
That was a story of its own for the Recs as they left a double digit number of runners on base, failing to extend the two to nothing lead they had going into the fifth. This would come back to bit them as Bingel failed to get any more run support. Peabody capitalized off of that opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Mabee made up for his error in the third inning by hit a two run double to tie the game that would finally shake Bingel up a bit, but he would get out of the inning by striking out the last two batters.
Locked at two in the sixth, Manager Mike Giardi decided to take matters into his own hands as he pinch hit for Zach Keenan. Giardi swung on the first pitch of the at-bat, hitting a shot into left center field that gave the Champions the lead 3-2.
Beverly wouldn’t go away however, as they tied the game in their last at bats to force extra innings. The Recs rallied in the top of the ninth to score four runs to go up 7-3, shocking the Champions and seemed to have taken the air out of the team.
Yet the game was far from over.
The game deserved an incredible ending, and that is what was given. A back and fourth battle that included multiple lead changes and drama. Just when the game finally looked to have been over in the bottom of the ninth, the Champions began rallying on their last breaths to come within one run. The comeback fell just short however, with Giardi grounding into a fielder’s choice at third base to end the game, resulting in the Recs stealing game five of the championship. The Recs now lead the series 3-2, but so far, both teams are undefeated in this series after a loss, making for an interesting game six.
