LYNN — If you’re the Lynnfield 12-year-old All-Stars, chalk this one up to the one that got away.
If you’re the Swampscott 12s, chalk it up to never giving up when the game was on the line, coming from behind to stay in the winners’ bracket of the District 16 tournament with a 4-2 win Saturday over Lynnfield at Pine Hill.
“Everything we did to come back happened with two outs, but the way the game was going early, I was afraid we were going to get down and not be able to get back. They showed a lot of resiliency to come back,” said Swampscott manager Mike Brown.
Hitless through the first three innings, Swampscott had no answer for Lynnfield starter Colin Morrison (3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 R, 8 Ks, 3 BBs). After walking the second batter of the game, Morrison set down the next nine, eight of them consecutively by strikeout.
The fourth inning looked to be more of the same, but with two outs, Swampscott’s bats woke up, taking the lead for good, 3-1, thanks to a big triple into the gap in left-center off the bat of Jett Nichols (1-for-3, R) and an RBI double by Gavin Cerrutti (2-for-3, run) that plated Johan Standal (1-for-1, R, RBI), on base with a walk.
“Jett Nichols had a great triple to get us going in the fourth with two outs, then Gavin Cerutti had a huge double to give us the lead,” Brown said. “We took those three walks, so we forced their pitcher out and just had a big inning. When we were down, we came back and had the energy. Lynnfield is a good team. We expected a lot of runs from them and were ready for that, so it was important to make sure our players had high energy.”
With all the momentum on Swampscott’s side, Lynnfield’s pitchers then struggled to find the plate. Three straight walks proved deadly, the final one to Wes Saunders (RBI) with the bases loaded that made it a 3-1 game.
Swampscott added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Nichols reached on an infield error and ended up on second when the throw sailed past the first baseman. Nichols advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Standal’s RBI single to left.
Lynnfield made things interesting in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Grant Hudson (1-for-3, R) reached second on an error and advanced to third on Ethan Depari’s sacrifice fly to right. Justin Migliore (1-for-2) walked. Morrison (2-for-3, 2 RBI) brought Depari (1-for-2) home with a single to left to cut the deficit to 4-2. After Luke McEwen (1-for-3) singled up the middle, Lynnnfield had the bases loaded and the winning run at second base. Swampscott’s Cerrutti came on in relief to end the threat, getting the next batter on a called third strike.
“That strikeout was just huge,” Brown said. “He’s a competitor; he was the right one we wanted out there in that situation.”
The game started well for Lynnfield, which took a 1-0 lead in the first. Leadoff hitter Chase Paton walked and got to second on a single by Depari. Next up was Morrison, who singled Paton home. Will Shields (1-for-2) also had a base hit for Lynnfield.
Lynnfield certainly had plenty of chances to put the game away, but left 11 men on base. Twice, the Pioneers left the bases loaded – the second time with one out in the bottom of the sixth.
“We left a lot of guys on base today,” said Lynnfield manager Mark Hudson. “Credit to them. They had a lot of key hits and their pitchers mixed in a lot of pitches and they got out of a lot of jams. Swampscott just played a great game. We’ve been getting key hits, but today, we just didn’t get enough of them.”
Beckett Brown got the start for Swampscott and went 3 ⅔ innings. He wiggled his way out of jams with multiple runners in scoring position in every inning, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
“Beckett was battling today. It was hot and he was struggling a bit, but he fought through it,” Mike Brown said.
