(Rowley) No mercy shown.
Triton has now gone the mercy-rule route three straight games.
Today the team on the other end of it was Ipswich. The game concluded in the fifth inning after the Vikings (8-5) got a 10-0 lead.
“I have mixed feelings about the mercy rule,” said Triton coach Chris Lamothe afterwards. “It does save your pitchers, but it also keeps you from putting in players who haven’t had much playing time.”
Ipswich (3-9) stranded runners in all five innings and collected five hits.
Triton starter Tyler Egan was hit hard at times but the defense behind him made plays especially in the outfield.
“Ipswich hit some balls but right at people,” said Coach Lamothe.
“Tyler didn’t have his good stuff, but he battled,” Coach Lamothe added.
The Tigers struggled defensively in the first inning and Triton made them pay.
After the first two Vikings (DJ Watson & Cole Daniels) singled, Tyler lined to left. The Tigers’ leftfielder hesitated, and the ball sailed over his head and a run scored. The relay back in was mishandled and a second run scored.
Next batter Andrew Johnson grounded to third. The Ipswich third basemen had Tyler picked off second, but Tyler got into a rundown. A bad throw in the rundown not only got Tyler to third but he kept going and slide home for the third Triton run.
In the fourth inning, Triton sent up twelve batters and added six more runs.
The Vikings had six hits in that inning. The biggest hit was Tyler’s long two-out single that cleared the bases.
“We had great hitting today from top to bottom,” said Tyler afterwards. The Vikings collected twelve hits.
Jack Lindholm took over for Tyler in the fifth inning and kept the shutout going. The Tigers did get two baserunners (Jeremy Lathrop and Evan Stein) but Jack got a popup and a force-out to get out of it.
Pinch-hitter Evan Piscitelli led off the Triton fifth with a single up the middle. Connor Rumpf came in to pinch-run. Connor reached third on an infield error and came home with the game-winner thanks to an infield hit by Jakob Lennon.
“This is a good time for us to be hitting our stride,” said Coach Lamothe. “We have North Reading on Saturday and Lynnfield and Newburyport next week.”
Triton needs two more wins to qualify for the state tournament.
Tyler, Cole Daniels, and Jack Lindholm all had two hits. DJ Watson and Connor Rumpf each scored two runs.
Finn MacLennan pitched the entire way for Ipswich. He did have a hit in the third inning.
I was fooled again by the weather. Eiras Field had little wind and bright sun.
Ipswich 0 0 0 0 0 = 0
Triton 3 0 0 6 1 = 10
(The pictures will enlarge.)
McClelland Miscellanea 