Lynnfield turns Amesbury miscues into 10-8 win

Alex Gentile drove in the winning runs in the 7th inning

(Amesbury) Lynnfield came in struggling.

They were 1-6, scoring only sixteen runs.

They had lost four straight.

But today the Pioneers got runs and a happy-ending, 10-8, win over Amesbury on Thursday afternoon.

Lynnfield trailed 8-6 after six innings but put a four-spot up and Amesbury (6-3) didn’t recover.

“Both teams hits balls pretty well and put them in play,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien afterwards. “They made some mistakes. We made some mistakes.”

Only in the Lynnfield fifth did a side go in order.

Sophomore David Tracy came on in relief for the Pioneers in the fifth inning. He limited Amesbury to one run over the final three innings to get the win.

“David Tracy was clutch.,” said junior Alex Gentile afterwards. “He did the job for us.”

Alex paced the Lynnfield attack. He had two hits, two RBI, and scored two runs.

Pinch-hitter Nick Razzaboni tied the game in the 7^th with a double. After a walk to Henry Caulfield, Alex’s long single brought in both runners to gain Lynnfield a 2-run lead.

David Tracy gave up a double to Will Arsenault leading off the Amesbury seventh but then retired the next three batters to clinch the victory.

You sensed “long game” for Amesbury as the first inning played out. The Indians had four throwing errors in the infield, rolling up pitches on starter Drew Scaldone’s arm and handing Lynnfield three runs.

“We gave up seven outs in the first inning,” said Amesbury coach Joel Brierley post-game. “Can’t give a team like that extra outs.”

But Amesbury can hit, and they got two in the first and two more in the second to get the lead. Jake Harring drove in a run in the second with a triple and came home on a bad throw from the outfield to allow Amesbury to jump ahead, 4-3.

Lynnfield regained the lead in the fifth inning. An error, a wild pitch, and Dan Dorman’s sacrifice fly were factors.

Lynnfield gifted Amesbury back with two runs in the fifth thanks to an error, hit batsman, a wild pitch, and a passed ball.

But the Pioneers would recover and pull this one out in the final frame.

“I’m proud of the kids,” said Coach O’Brien. “They didn’t give up even when we were down going into the last inning.”

Henry Caulfield scores the 10th Lynnfield run

“This was a tough loss,” said Coach Brierley. “We’ve been hitting well and bailing out our errors. If we’re going to be a team that plans to do something we’ve got to be able to make routine plays.”

There were sixteen walks and wild pitches and passed balls were frequent.

Alex Gentile on his hit in the seventh: “He kept giving me curveballs in the count and I knew he was going to come back with another one. Luckily, I got a good piece of it.”

Junior Trevor Kimball had a solo home run in the fifth inning.