SAUGUS — It was the opening game of the season for the Saugus Sachems, who welcomed Swampscott to World Series Park Wednesday. The game was suspended after the seventh inning since field lights were unavailable, and will conclude Thursday (TBD).
The score was 3-3 with Swampscott due to bat in the eighth inning.
“I thought it was a pretty clean game. I know one inning, we gave a couple of extra outs and it hurt us,” said Swampscott Coach Joe Caponigro. “In a game like this, that’s pretty even. I guess no team should really win or lose.”
For Saugus, it was Coach Mike Mabee’s debut game. After seven innings, he liked what he saw from his squad.
“I think we competed. We had to battle some adversity. We went down, battled back, and then they came back. Our pitchers threw strikes and our defense made plays,” Mabee said. “We just competed all day.”
The story of the game: starting pitchers in Swampscott’s Jamison Ford and Saugus’ Cam Soroko. Ford went six innings with five strikeouts, while Soroko went four innings with eight strikeouts.
“I thought our pitcher, Jamison, pitched outstandingly – as did their guy, Soroko,” Caponigro said.
Mabee loved what he saw from his ace, and trusted him to get out of any situation.
“He just battled. Even when he puts himself in a hole, he digs himself right back out,” Mabee said. “I just love watching him compete. He loves to play baseball and you can see it out there. It’s fun watching him play.”
Swampscott struck first when a double steal allowed Nate Lee to cross home plate in the second inning.
But in the fourth inning, Saugus found its groove offensively. With Nathan Soroko on third, Danny Zeitz hit an RBI single to center field. The center fielder dove for the ball, but couldn’t control it, allowing Nathan Soroko to touch home plate.
Then, an RBI single to right field from Tyler Riley gave the Sachems a 2-1 lead. Saugus scored its third after an error allowed the Sachems to steal home and make it 3-1.
Despite giving up three runs in the fourth inning, Swampscott responded immediately. The following inning, Dylan DiFilippo registered a two-run double to center field to tie the game, 3-3, scoring Adam Sparacio and Caden Ross.
“That’s one thing we talked about,” Caponigro said. “That’s one of our offensive goals is to answer back quickly when we’re in that type of situation.”
The game could have gone either way, but with the sun going down and no lights, the teams had to end without a winner.
“It’s never easy being in the cold,” Mabee said. “We had some first-game jitters, but we competed and I think we still played hard.”
