SALEM — The Swampscott and Peabody West 12-year-old All-Stars squared off in Salem with the Big Blue getting the job done against West, 6-3, to be crowned District 16 champions.
Swampscott got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning to put the pressure on West.
Two singles, followed by two stolen bases from Jett Nichols and Gavin Cerrutti, put Swampscott runners in scoring position with Connor Mohan at the plate with two outs. Without feeling the pressure, Mohan ripped a two-run double to left field for an early 2-0 lead.
Swampscott scored a third after an error in right field (3-0).
“Our gameplan, we knew they played more games, so they were going to be watching the pitch count. We were trying to play the pitch count game and hope their pitcher threw a lot more. Luckily, we were able to jump out ahead and I think that set the tone for the rest of the game,” said Swampscott manager Mike Brown.
After Swampscott took the lead, it relied on its defense and starting pitcher Beckett Brown.
Brown pitched all six innings, allowing just five hits while striking out three.
“We have a few aces on our team, but he’s our No. 1. He pitched three out of our four games,” Mike Brown said. “He was pretty efficient and had good defense behind him. He kept them unbalanced.”
Beckett only allowed one hit heading into the fourth inning, one in which Peabody West started to mount a comeback.
Austin Lohnes (single) and Joe Ryan (walk) got on base with two outs. Cleanup hitter Jed Sencabaugh waited for his pitch and hit a two-run single to right field to cut the deficit to one (3-2).
Sencabaugh reached second on the throw to home, bringing up Danny Lancaster. Lancaster hit a single, bringing home Sencabaugh to tie the game, 3-3.
“We fell behind to Peabody and came back to win. [We] came back and beat Winthrop. So, we were down early, but there was definitely a belief that we’re still in this thing because we knew we had to come back so many times throughout the course of this thing… we knew we weren’t dead yet,” said Peabody West manager Mike McMahon.
Unfortunately for West, the tie didn’t last long.
In the fifth inning, Swampscott added its fourth run thanks to Ryan. He reached first on a walk and advanced to second base following a walk from Dylan Arndt. Ryan stole second base on a wild pitch, and as the Peabody catcher tried to throw him out at third, the ball got past the third baseman, allowing Ryan to regain Swampscott’s lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, it was back to Beckett Brown dealing, with his defense behind him making play after play. Swampscott retired six of the final seven batters to take home the District 16 title.
For McMahon, he had nothing but positive words for a “great” Swampscott side and his West group that never quit.
“They make every single play. I played them four times in two years, and I don’t know if I have seen them make more than one error. It’s crazy. They just make every play,” he said. “I was proud of the way our kids dialed it back in, because they’re 12 years old. You have a first inning like that with a couple of errors, it could have easily been 7-0 after the first.”
