SWAMPSCOTT — The Lynnfield 11-year-old All-Star team clinched the District 16 tournament championship Sunday at the Duratti, Holmes, and Cerone Field with a four-inning, 10-0 rout of Peabody West.
Lynnfield will move on to the state sectionals, being held this year in Gloucester. The winner of that four-team tournament will move on to the state championship tournament.
The Mandell Brothers, pitcher Nico and catcher Luca, were the ringleaders for Lynnfield Sunday.
“They controlled the game,” said manager Chris Cavallo. “You can tell they’ve played together for a long time. [Nico] is our best player and our best pitcher. He won four games.”
Nico faced a bit of difficulty in the first inning, when West loaded the bases with two outs before wigging free. From then on, he allowed only two baserunners. He fanned seven batters in four innings as well.
The offense got into the act in the third inning, when Lynnfield scored four runs off West starter Jaxson Ballatini, one of two pitchers Peabody used. Finn Charville led off by reaching on a hot shot to third, and Xander Maliawco followed with another base hit.
Matthew Cavallo got the third straight hit, scoring Charville with the first run. An error put runners on second and third, with John Kayola knocking them both in on the fourth base hit of the inning.
Kayola came home on another error.
The roof fell in on Peabody West in the fourth inning when Lynnfield scored six runs, with Maliawco coming home with the last one on a base hit by Kayola.
Despite the loss, Peabody West manager Shaun Coburn was happy with his team’s progress.
“We lost quite a few kids for various reasons, and nobody had many expectations for us,” Coburn said. “But we hung in. They played hard, and here we were.
“Their pitcher is tremendous,” Coburn added. “We’ve faced him a number of times over the last four years. He’s tough.””
Cavallo likes his team’s balance.
“Most teams will talk about their first four or five hitters,” he said. “But all our hitters can swing the bat and hit the ball. I think they do well.”
