Peabody 7-26-18

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WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 JULY 26, 2018
Danvers National eliminates West
By Anne Marie Tobin
ANDOVER — The Danvers National 12-year-old
Little League All-Stars turned tables Saturday, coming
from behind to defeat Peabody West 7-6 in seven innings
at Deyermond Park to walk off with their first
sectional title in 42 years, proving the point that, when
it comes to Little League, you can never have a large
enough lead.
West led 5-1 in the Section 4 going into the bottom of
the fourth and still led 6-2 after the top of the fifth. But
a Danvers team battled back with two runs in the bottom
of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the sixth to
send the game into extras. Danvers won it in the bottom
of the seventh when third baseman Jakob Hamel ripped
a 2-out RBI single to bring Jake Semons home from
third with the game-winning run, punching Danvers’
ticket to next weekend’s state finals in Millbury.
“I guess the magic ran out,” said West manager Steve
Porcella. “But I am proud of the way they fought. Both
games against Danvers could have gone either way,
and I think if we played them 10 times, we would each
win five, it was that close. When you start the summer
season, you never know how far you are going to go,
but the kids, their families really dedicated themselves
to this so they should be proud.”
Danvers left the bases loaded in the first after West
starter Jayce Dooley got out of the jam with a strikeout,
and also leaving two runners on in the second after
shortstop Thomas Fabbo made a nice play on a hard
grounder.
Fabbo led off the top of the third with a single and
scored on a home run by Nick Villano. Dooley then
singled and scored on a bases-loaded walk to John
Horgan to make it 3-0.
Danvers answered with a run in its half of the frame,
but it could have been worse, but for a perfectly-executed
rundown that cut down Mike Moroney attempting
to score on Nick Robinson’s RBI single.
West bumped the lead to 5-1 on Josh Scali’s 2-run
homer in the top of the fourth, scoring Villano. Danvers
responded with a run in its half of the inning to cut the
lead to 5-2.
In the top of the fifth, Ty Zito singled and got to
second on an infield hit by Jacob Behn. Two batters
later, Villano was walked intentionally to load the bases
for Scali, who added a hit plating Zito to make it 6-2.
Danvers closed to 6-4 in the bottom of the inning,
then forced extra innings with two more in the sixth.
Semons led off the bottom of the seventh with a
single. Porcella gambled and intentionally walked
Reardon, putting the game-winning run on second
base. Moroney lined out to Jacob Behn at second, who
attempted to double up Reardon at first, but the throw
got past first, putting Semons on third. Scali intentionally
walked Owen Gasinowski to set up a force at any
base, but the plan backfired when Hamel delivered the
timely hit.
PHOTO | ANNE MARIE TOBIN
Danvers National’s Tim Bowler slides in safely
to cut West’s lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth
inning. The West catcher is Andy Bousquet.
All-Stars played their way into sectional final
By Daniel Kane
and Anne Marie Tobin
PHOTO | ANNE MARIE TOBIN
Manager Steve Porcella gives a high five after Josh Scali’s home run against
Danvers National in Game 1 of the Section 4 tournament.
ANDOVER — In the first two
games of the District 4 Tournament the
Peabody West 12-year-old All-Stars had
to battle from behind in the late innings.
Friday night’s game against Billerica at
Deyermond Park was no different.
West trailed twice, but walked off
with win,plating the winning run in the
bottom of the sixth inning to win 7-6
when Josh Scali (1-for-3) scored on a
passed ball with two outs.
“It looked like they had the chance to
make a play there,” West manager Steve
Porcella said of the game-winning run.
“You have to go there and put your foot
on the pedal and go for it.”
“I just knew I had to take the chance
because it was a tied game with two
outs,” Scali said.
West was led by Jayce Dooley (2-
for-4, 3 RBI) who hit a 3-run homer and
John Horgan (1-for-1, 2 RBI) who had
a clutch 2-run double to tie the game in
fifth.
Anthony Herbert, who came in to relieve
starter Nick Villano, pitched the
final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no hits on
two strikeouts while hitting one batter.
“We hadn’t used Anthony much but he
really came out there and did his job,”
Porcella said. “He hit his spots, kept the
hitters off balance and got the job done.”
Trailing 3-0, West added a run in its
half of the second when Thomas Fabbo
drove in a run on a groundout with the
bases loaded.
In the third, a walk by Villano and an
infield single by Scali set the table for
Dooley, who blasted 3-run homer to give
West its first lead of the game at 4-3.
Billerica answered right back with
three in the fourth to regain the lead, 6-4.
With two outs and runners at second
and third for West, Horgan’s 2-run
double tied things up.
“I’ve been struggling in those situations,”
Horgan said. “I was pretty nervous
but I tried to just breathe and not
even think about it and it payed off.”
Tied at 6-6 in the last inning, Scali
reached on a walk and ended up on third
on two passed balls before moved to
second and third on passed balls before
he sprinted home on another passed ball
to seal West’s win.
Woburn 9, West 8
Despite jumping out to a five-run lead,
West fell to Woburn in extra innings
Thursday to fall to 1-1 in pool play.
“It always hurts to lose but the kids
keep coming back,” Peabody West manager
Steve Porcella said. “Baseball is
a game of plays, you have to make the
little plays,” Porcella added. “We made a
lot of little plays today but Woburn made
a few more and that’s what it came down
to.”
Scali (2-for-4, 4 RBI) had two clutch
bases-loaded doubles, both coming
Villano, was intentionally walked.
Dooley (2-for-4, RBI) and Fabbo (1-
for-3, RBI) each added solo home runs.
In the first, Dooley hit a solo shot for
a 1-0 lead.
Andy Bousquet led off the second with
a single. An infield error and hit batter
loaded the bases. Dooley reached on
an outfield error with two runs coming
home. Scali hit a 2-run, ground-rule
double to extend the lead to 5-0.
Woburn closed to 5-2 in the fifth.
In the fourth, Fabbo added a solo home
run to give West a 6-2 lead, but Woburn
answered with three runs in the fifth to
close to 6-5.
Woburn added three more in the sixth
to lead 8-6.
Down to its final out, West rallied. A
walk by Fabbo, single by Dooley and an
intentional walk to Villano loaded the
bases for Scali who laced another double
to tie the game at 8-8.
After two walks to start the seventh,
Woburn plated the eventual winning run
on a passed ball.
Peabody 6, Danvers National 5
It was a night of firsts for the Peabody
West 12-year-old All Stars in the opening
round of the District 4 Little League
Tournament July 18.
West played from behind for the first
time all season. West trailed 5-3 going
into the bottom of the sixth inning but
rallied to score three runs to cap a comefrom-behind
victory.
Scali was the man of the hour. With
Fabbo on second and Dooley at third, he
ripped a single to bring home the tying
and game-winning runs.
But that’s not all Scali did. He
smashed the first home run of his Little
League career in the first. He also got the
job done on the mound, coming on in relief
to earn the win.
“Josh has been rock solid, and that was
the first home run he ever hit,” said Porcella.
“His home run really sparked us. The kids
had never been in a position of playing from
behind but they never gave up.”
With two outs in the first, Villano
drilled a first pitch over the center field
fence to make it 2-1. One pitch later, Scali
ripped a fast ball over the left field fence.
Danvers came back with three in the
second to regain the lead, 4-3. Peabody
contained the damage thanks to Dooley,
who moved from the mound to center field
and promptly threw out a runner at third.
“The timing was unbelievable,” said
Porcella. “Jayce had just gone to center
field and he made a great throw.”
Villano retired seven straight before
being lifted for Scali in the fifth.
After Danvers bumped its lead to 5-3
in the top of the sixth, Peabody went to
work.
With one out, Jacob Behn and Fabbo
(2-for-3, 2 runs) hit back-to-back singles.
Dooley (2-for-4, RBI, run) brought Behn
home with a single, then Villano (2-
for-2) was intentionally walked (for the
second time) to load the bases for Scali
(2-for-4, 3 RBI), who ripped a single to
bring home Fabbo with the tying run and
Dooley with the game-winner.
“We held our breath in the top of the
sixth inning when it was looking pretty
hairy, but we knew with the top of our
order due up in the bottom of the inning
that we could do some damage,”
Porcella said.
Porcella said a big factor in the game was
West’s defense, especially Fabbo at short.
“Thomas made some brilliant plays
tonight to keep us in the game,” he said.