When it comes to Little League rivalries, it might not get any better than Lynnfield and Peabody West. For the second time in less than a week, the two teams tangled against each other. And for the second time in less than a week, Lynnfield came on top, this time in a nailbiter that needed extra innings before Lynnfield eked out a 3-2 win in seven innings in the District 16 championship game Friday night at Lt. Ross Park.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, West had Gaetano Fodera at third and the game winner at the plate in William Sabia. Sabia scorched a line drive to second baseman John Kayola that looked to be headed to the corner in right field, but Kayola made a game-saving leaping catch to end the game that left both coaches shaking their heads.
“I thought for sure it was over the second baseman’s head and somehow he comes up with the ball,” West manager Shaun Coburn said. “It was an incredible catch.”
“That was a crazy catch,” Lynnfield manager Chris Cavallo said. “No one could believe it. It looked like it was way over his head.”
Lynnfield outhit West 11-3, but had several scoring opportunities snuffed out by West’s defense at crunch time. The Pioneers left the base loaded in two innings and, all told, stranded 13 men on base.
“The teams know each other well and it was a pitchers’ duel for the most part,” Cavallo said. “They (West) made the plays, played strong D and pitched strong as well. It’s what you would expect from teams that know each other and play often. But despite the missed scoring opportunities, our team remained focused on defense and got it down. All around, it was a great game.”
Matthew Cavallo, Nico Mandell (run), Ben O’Hara and Fin Charville (double) led the attack with two hits each. Nico Mandell (1 R, 6 Ks, 2 BBs) allowed just one hit in 4 and ⅓ innings. Luca Mandell (1 R, 2 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB) closed out the game with 2 ⅔ innings in relief to earn the win. With the game knotted at 1-1, he inherited a bases-loaded situation in the fifth, but retired the next two batters to escape without further damage.
“Nico Mandell was stellar on the mound for four-plus innings and Luca Mandell came in with the bases loaded and one out to close out the fifth and pitched strong through the seventh,” Cavallo said.
For West, Cam Segee (1-for-3, R, double), Gaetano Fodera (1-for-3, R) and Brayden Creamer (1-for-3) led the attack with one hit each. Segee started and pitched 4 ⅔ innings, allowing five hits and one run with seven strikeouts and three walks. Leo Ippolito (2 R, 6 hits, 3 Ks, 3 BBs) pitched two and ⅓ innings in relief.
“Lynnfield is a really good team,” Coburn said. “Their kids, one through 12 are all good ball players and their starting pitcher, Nico Mandell, is for sure one of the best 10-year-old pitchers in the state. Connor Segee pitched a great game, too. He pitched as well as we could have asked him to. He’s been rock solid throughout the district tournament.”
Lynnfield jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Charville led off with a single and scored on Luca Mandell’s sacrifice fly to left field.
Nico Mandell cruised through the first four innings, pitching to just three batters in each of them before running into a bit of trouble in the fourth when West loaded the bases with no outs. Brayden Coburn hit a shot to first baseman Ben O’Hara who fired home to catcher Matt Cavallo to get the force on Ippolito. With Fodera on third, Shaun Coburn called for a delayed steal.
“After their first baseman made that outstanding play, we knew we needed to get Gaetano home,” Coburn said. “He is an extremely aggressive and fast base runner so a delayed steal was a good opportunity to get the run in and tie the game. He got the sign and executed.”
To say the seventh inning was wild is an understatement. Nico Mandell led off with a single, got to second on Ben O’Hara’s single and scored on Dylan Delory’s bases-loaded single. Two batters later and with the bases still loaded after Maverick Murphy walked, A walk to Genaro Antonelli brought Xander Maliawco (on base with a walk) home to make it a 3-1 game.
West rallied in its half of the inning. Segee ripped a one-out double, stole third and scored on Fodera’s infield grounder to shortstop to cut the deficit to 3-2, but West’s hopes were dashed by Kayola’s highlight reel gem.
“We knew we had an uphill battle to beat them twice if we were going to win the district championship,” Coburn said. “I am so proud of our guys for not giving up. They played hard and played a great game. The mindset was to take it one half inning at a time and if we could match them inning for inning, then we would be in the game and anything could happen.”
Could there be another highlight added to the Lynnfield/Peabody West rivalry? The answer to that question comes on Friday when the two teams meet in the Section 4 championship Friday at Deyermond Field in Andover.
“It should be another fun one,” Cavallo said.
“I am sure it will be another close one like it is every time we match up with them,” Coburn said.
