LYNN — Celtics jerseys, a few ice cream trucks, and Mullins Memorial warmup shirts were just a few of Saturday’s sights as Lynn Classical took on St. Mary’s at friendly Fraser Field.
As if you needed more on, frankly, a perfect day for baseball, it was for all the marbles at the second annual Doug Mullins Memorial Tournament between Classical, St. Mary’s, Lynn English, and Swampscott.
After seven hard-fought innings in the sun, St. Mary’s (13-6) defeated Classical (17-3, 14-0 in Greater Boston League) 4-1 to keep its now-nine-game winning streak intact.
Coach Derek Dana said it all starts at the mound, crediting Josh Doney and tournament MVP Tommy Falasca as the pair allowed just one walk across Friday and Saturday’s games.
“This is now nine in a row that we’ve got, and it’s gone through those two guys starting on the mound,” Dana said. “They’ve been outstanding piling the strike zone.”
He’s right. Doney allowed just six hits in a complete-game victory Saturday. The lefty struck out three Rams in the first inning to set the tone, and retired two more in the seventh to seal the deal.
“If you throw strikes, you’re a left-hander, you’ve got a curveball, and you compete like he does, he gives you a chance every time he’s out there,” Dana said. “He might be 50 strikeouts and 11 walks on the season.”
Good teams start quickly. Freshman Michael DeMaino (2 RBI) stole second, advanced to third, then scored on a tag-up for a 1-0 St. Mary’s lead.
“Baserunning was pretty good,” Dana said.
But the Rams were resilient as ever. Ethan Chevalier singled to score Yoniel Cabral in the second inning to even things 1-1. A stolen base from Darnell Leon later, and all of the momentum was with the Green and Gold.
“He’s leadoff, he sets the table for us, he gets on, and he gets us going. He really does,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said of senior Leon. “Two or three stolen bases and he just gets everyone going. He’s like a little jackrabbit out there on the basepath. Where he goes, we go.”
But St. Mary’s has 13 wins for a reason. Junior Chris Marks and DeMaino each picked up RBI-singles, and suddenly, it was 3-1 St. Mary’s.
With Dana saying, “I thought we left too many on base,” Zukowski agreed.
“We were lucky to only give up one run at a time,” Zukowski said. “We kept things as close as we could.”
A big reason for that: senior pitcher and captain Kevin Whalen. After escaping a shaky fifth inning with just one run allowed, he forced three pop flys in the sixth to keep Classical in it.
Prior to the action, Zukowski told Whalen, “What are you going to do, are you going to show us what you have?”
With Whalen pitching all but one inning, the righty did his job Saturday.
“He reached back [and] he was able to figure things out,” Zukowski said.
Devin Duval scored an insurance run for St. Mary’s in the seventh (4-1), and Doney did the rest. He retired two and forced a ground-out to end Classical’s comeback bid.
“I’ve got to tip my hat to the Doney kid,” Zukowski said. “He’s pitched lights out for them all year.”
The game ended with Classical’s tying run at the plate, too.
“Too little, too late,” Zukowski said.
From there, photos and a trophy celebration polished off a successful Saturday for Coach Dana and company. Classical’s regular season came to and end, while St. Mary’s hosts St. John’s Prep at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
