DANVERS — On a cold and blustery Thursday morning (April 18), Tanners’ starting picture Cam Connolly delivered a gutsy effort, throwing a complete game to lead Peabody (4-2) to an 8-5 win over Danvers at Twi Field.
In a word, Connolly was simply unflappable. He allowed just five hits – four of which never left the infield – and struck out a season-high 10 without walking a batter and gave up just one earned run. He also came up clutch at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Connolly retired the first six batters of the game, only to run into trouble in the third when the defense stumbled, handing the Falcons four runs (three unearned) to allow them to take a 4-3 lead. But, Connolly bounced back the rest of the way and finished strong, retiring the final seven batters in order – the last two on strikes – to seal the win.
“He did a great job and the thing that was so impressive was in that third inning when we started to unravel for a few… to give them some opportunities, Cam kept his composure,” Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt said. “I didn’t even have to make a visit to the mound. Just watching his body language and the way he was, he just swallowed all that. He’s doing his job and he was going to continue doing his job. He did what a senior captain is supposed to do. He just weathered the storm and he came out great on the other end. I think he knew the last guy was going to be his last and he really wanted that out.”
Leadoff hitter Jariel Tolentino (1-for-2, 3 runs, RBI double, 2 stolen bases) set the tone for the Tanners right off the bat. He drew a walk in the top of the first, then stole second and scored on Mike Petro’s ground out to second.
“Jariel’s the big catalyst of this team,” Bettencourt said. “Early in the season, he was jumping on the first pitch and he’s backed off, so he is seeing more pitches. He had a walk today, one of the first he’s had all year. I think he’s feeling more comfortable that he starts to generate more opportunities like he did for us today.”
Reymi Andino (2-for-4, 3 RBI) also had a productive day at the plate. He smacked two timely doubles, the first one scoring courtesy runner Mike DeLoreto (running for Connolly who singled) in the first that made it 2-0 Tanners. Connolly bumped the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the third, scoring Tolentino who led off with a walk.
After Danvers took a 4-3 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third, the Tanners got right back to work in the top of the fourth. Joey Smith led off with a walk. Michael Murphy (2-for-3, run) moved Smith to second with a bunt single. Both runners moved up a base on Jayden Cunningham’s sacrifice bunt. Tolentino brought Smith home with a double. Cunningham scored on a ground out by Mike Petro that made it 5-3. Connolly drew a walk, then Noah Crocker (1-for-4, run) singled Tolentino home. Andino kept the line moving, smashing a clutch two-out double that plated DeLoreto (3 runs) and Crocker and made it an 8-4 game.
“Reymi had those two big hits. We got two big bunts down today and for the first time all year, we executed our bunts,” Bettencourt said. “We didn’t miss any signs and stole some bases. It’s a big-picture thing. We have the frame and we are starting to fill it in. We’re getting there… That’s one thing that this team has to start adopting is that this is their mentality, their mojo, what they do as a team. We’re not going to sulk. We’re not going to hang our heads. We’ve had enough of that in the past. It’s time for us to come back with a vengeance and that’s what they did.”
Bettencourt also credited a vocal bench for playing a key role in the outcome.
“I was very happy with our bench today. They were in the game for seven innings,” he said. “Against Swampscott, against Salem, it felt like they were there because they had to be there. Today, it felt like they wanted to be here and that makes a huge difference.”
Danvers head coach Matt Mello said too many walks and errors were the kiss of death for the Falcons.
“I think we walked six or seven guys and four or five of them came back to score. You just can’t do that,” Mello said. “In turn, I don’t think we walked once. We had that good inning when we put up four, but they came right back with five. That really crushed any momentum we might have had.”
