NEWBURYPORT — Players were cheering, parents clapping, and hugs were being dished out like fly balls in Lynnfield’s baseball game against Newburyport Saturday morning.
The morale-boosting 9-2 victory in enemy territory was extra sweet for the Pioneers (11-3), as Newburyport (11-5) got the best of them back in April.
“It’s a good team over there,” Lynnfield coach John O’Brien said. “They were in the state finals last year and they didn’t lose a lot. We knew today would be a tough day.”
On, frankly, a perfect day for baseball, O’Brien said “everybody got off the bus today and was ready to play.”
Boy, was he right. Good teams start quickly, and Lynnfield did just that in the first inning. After a walk, Lynnfield sophomore Tyler Amado stole second, then third, then home plate after a passed ball (1-0).
From there, junior Anthony Grabau connected on a line drive down the middle to score senior Nick Razzaboni. Before Newburyport could put away its senior day decorations, it was 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
“We wanted to attack. We wanted to swing,” O’Brien said of his gameplan heading in.
Junior pitcher Dave Tracy (3 strikeouts, 6 hits allowed) took that two-run cushion and ran with it. The right-hander went high on a Clipper to retire the side in the second inning.
“That’s the name of the game,” O’Brien said of throwing strikes.
Then, the gates flew open. Cam Marengi, Razzaboni, Alex Gentile, and Grabau all picked up RBI in a five-run fourth inning, advancing runners and making contact like it was a how-to reel. Suddenly, Lynnfield was on top 8-0.
“They made all the plays [and] got the hits when they needed to,” O’Brien said.
Despite Newburyport tacking on two runs in the fifth – spoiling Lynnfield’s mercy attempt and making it 8-2 – the Pioneers responded. Do-it-all Tracy ripped a double to score Razzaboni (9-2).
When asked about his team’s hitting display, O’Brien credited his assistant coaches.
“They’ve been working with the kids hard with the hitting,” O’Brien said. “I couldn’t be prouder of them. They do most of the work [and] it feeds off on the kids.”
Sophomore pitcher Madux Iovenilli replaced Tracy, recording a 1-2-3 in the sixth inning – much to the delight of Lynnfield’s dugout.
“Oh, the bench was fabulous,” O’Brien said. “The best it’s been all year.”
And as if it needed more to cheer about, Gentile obliged. The three-sport Pioneer sprinted before making a diving catch to rob one in center field, showing some emotion afterwards.
“He makes that catch to pretty much stuff them out,” O’Brien said. “He gets a great jump and he knows where they’re going to hit the ball, roughly, because he knows which pitch is coming.”
And if you ask O’Brien to name a better outfielder in the Cape Ann League, you know the answer.
“I don’t think there’s a better outfielder,” O’Brien said. “In my opinion.”
Two ground outs later from Iovenilli, and that was all she wrote.
“I think the kids needed this game to really get our feet under us again,” O’Brien said. “All In all, I think we played really well. I’m really pleased with the kids’ effort.”
Lynnfield hosts Triton at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and just five games remain for the 11-win Pioneers.
“[This was] a good push towards the end, so we’ll see,” O’Brien said.
