The Peabody West 10-year-old All-Stars’ run in the Section 4 tournament came to a close Sunday at Pollard Field with a 13-5 loss to District 13 champion Billerica.
West came out of the gate hot, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but after that, it was all Billerica, thanks to a 17-hit attack. West finished 0-3 in pool play and out of the running for Monday’s championship game, won by Billerica.
“We were excited for the opportunity to play in the sectional tournament and the boys just wanted to keep playing baseball,” said West manager Shaun Coburn. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
Catcher Gino Fodera (R, RBI), left fielder Dylan Giacalone (2 RBI) and extra hitter Austin Burke (RBI) led the offense with two hits each.
The first inning started well. Extra hitter Connor Segee (RBI, R) and first baseman Jaxson Vallantini (run) led off with walks, then Fodera followed with an RBI single that brought Segee home. Some crafty running on the part of Vallantini and Fodera added two more runs.
Trailing 11-0, West added runs in the fifth. Second baseman Jake Kallianidis (1-for-1, R) led off with a walk and advanced to second on center fielder Brayden Creamer’s (1-for-2, R, RBI) single to right. Both runners moved up a base with steals. Burke brought Kallianidis home with a single, then Creamer scored on a ground out by Segee.
Beverly 7
Peabody West 4
West fell to 0-2 Saturday with a 7-4 loss to District 15 champion Beverly, 7-4, at Lt. Ross Park.
West got off to a good start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Beverly cut the deficit to one at 2-1 in the top of the fourth, then added two in the fifth to take its first lead, 3-2. West rallied to tie the game at 3-3 in its half of the inning, but Beverly piled it on in the sixth, adding four runs to seal the win. West pulled to within striking distance with a run in the bottom of the inning, but it was too little, too late.
Starter Vallantini (1-for-2, R) got things started in the first. He singled, stole second and third, and scored on Fodera’s triple to put West on top, 1-0. Fodera (2-for-2, 2 R) doubled the lead to 2-0 when he scored on a wild pitch.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Fodera and Louie Ippolito (1-for-2, SB) ripped back-to-back singles. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Fodera came around to score on another wild pitch to make it a 3-3 game.
After a big sixth inning from Beverly, West didn’t go quietly. Kallianidis led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single from Giacalone (1-for-2). Kallianidis stole third and continued home after a botched fielding play to cut the deficit to 7-4.
Vallentini pitched five innings. He gave up three runs on six hits with five punchouts and three walks. In one inning of relief, Robbie Stanziani gave up just two hits in ⅔ of an inning, but one of them was a bases-loaded triple that gave Beverly the lead for good at 6-3. Brayden Coburn pitched to three batters, allowing one hit.
Lynnfield 14
Peabody West 0
West’s opening game in the tournament wasn’t what it had hoped to be. Giacalone and Burke had West’s only base hits – both of them singles. But thanks to five free passes, West had runners on base in every inning but the sixth when Lynnfield reliever Luca Mandell struck out the side to seal the win.
“Lynnfield is a very good team and you can’t give them extra outs,” Coburn said. “You have to play good defense and when you make mistakes, they make you pay. We have a lot of good hitters, but we have been struggling to get base hits. I give the Lynnfield players credit as their pitchers threw strikes and fielders made plays. We also had some defensive miscues that really cost us.”
