Now that summer is upon us, it means only one thing if you love baseball – it’s time for the Little league All-Star season. This week, the District 16 tournaments kicked off.
The Peabody West 12-year-old all-stars opened the tourney with a 14-2 win over Saugus at Forest River Park in Salem. Jed Sencabaugh (2-for-3) and Jack Lisk (3-for-3 had big bats with Sencabaugh smacking a home run and a double and driving in three runs, while Lisk drove in one run.Owen McMahon (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Justin Devereaux (2-for-3, RBI) and Aiden Muse (2-for-3) also had multiple-hit games. Joe Ryan (2 IP, 2 H, 3 Ks) and Ben Wenzel (3 IP, 2 R, 7Ks) combined for the win. West is back in action Saturday at Pine Hill against cross-city rival Peabody, which had a first-round bye.
Manager Mike McMahon hopes the team’s experience will be key.
“We have four 12-year-olds who played last year as 11s so I have to believe that makes a big difference,” he said.
West’s 11-year-olds and 10-year-olds cruised through their first two games, each team undefeated at 2-0.
The 11s followed an 8-0 win over Swampscott Sunday at Pine Hill with a 6-4 win over Peabody Monday night at Wyoma. Leo Petrosano pitched five strong innings and Reid Ruffin sealed the win with one inning in relief. Nick Dattoli, Tyler DeAmelio and Bryce Ragusa led the offense with two hits each. Owen Skerry (4 IP) and Leo Pietrosanto (2 IP) combined for the win.
“I want to highlight the great defensive play of catcher Cam Segee who made a great double play on a swinging bunt and also threw out a couple of baserunners on steal attempts and stopped everything in the dirt,” Manager Phil Ragusa said. “We had solid defense again by the infielders, especially Logan LaTorella who got a lot of action at first base and made a couple of tough plays. And Leo made a nice play after going to third and ended the game with a diving catch on a hard-hit line drive.
West, which made it all the way to the Section 4 finals as 10-year-olds last year, is back in action Sunday against Lynnfield at Saugus (1 p.m.). Peabody drops into the losers’ bracket and will play Friday at Salem at 7:30 p.m. (TBD).
