PW_0808

AUGUST 8, 2019
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9
Sports
Champions playing up to their name
By Harold Rivera
PEABODY — For the most part, the North Shore
Baseball League’s Peabody Champions haven’t faced
much trouble this summer. Peabody concluded the
regular season at 19-4, one game behind the Kingston
Night Owls for first place in the league standings, and
swept the North Shore Storm in the opening round of
the playoffs.
“It’s been terrific,” co-manager Steve Gridley said.
“We have a veteran group of guys that have been
having fun. There are eight of us who’ve been there for
12,13 years. We’re having a lot of fun. It gets a little
more serious at this point of the season but it’s a lot less
pressure when you’re winning and a lot more fun.”
Perhaps the team’s success stems from last summer’s
shortcoming. The Champions came one win away from
winning the North Shore Baseball League crown before
falling to the Kingston Nights Owls in the deciding
seventh game.
“We’ve lost the final three times since 2012 in seven
games,” Gridley said. “It stings. You think back to that
Game 7. You talk about motivation. You go through
every decision, every at-bat. You can’t let it consume
you but it’s on the back of your mind to not let that
happen again.”
The Champions now shift gears toward preparing
for the semifinal round, where they’ll clash against the
Beverly Recs.The best-of-five series began Tuesday,
Aug. 8 at Twi Field and continues tonight (Thursday)
with game three, also at Twi under the lights at 7:45.
Although they’ve coasted to this point, the Champions
aren’t taking Beverly lightly.
“They had us beat the two times we played them this
season,” Gridley said. “Both times we won in the seventh
inning, once in a walkoff and once in the top of the
seventh at their place. They have our number. We know
them. We know each other’s rosters pretty well. That’s
not a team you can take lightly. None of the teams in the
playoffs are teams you can take lightly.
“When you’ve made the playoffs in this league,
you’ve earned it,” Gridley said. “Every team has one or
two guys that can pitch and Beverly’s deeper than that.
That’s what concerns us. They have five or six guys
FILE PHOTOS
Derek Ruggiero, left, and Chad Martin have helped carry the Champions into the North Shore Baseball
League tournament’s semifinals.
that can really pitch.”
Gridley feels the Champions are in good standing. On
the mound, David Hoar has led the rotation with 0.64
ERA. Tyler Leavitt, Mike Muscarella, Peter O’Connell,
Scot Weismann and Collin Nye have also provided reliable
arms.
At the plate, Chad Martin, last year’s NSBL MVP, is
having another great season. Jon Cahill, Mark Shorey,
Derek Lyons and Derek Ruggiero have also helped
carry the offense.
“We’ve been pretty resilient this year,” Gridley said.
“When teams walk us and give us extra outs. we’ve
been pretty good about taking advantage of that. You
have to take advantage of those at this time. I’ve been
happy we’ve been able to do that all season. Hopefully
we can continue that.”
Peabody made quick work of the Storm with a pair of
wins (11-1, 5-1) in the best-of-three first round. Gridley
said it was an ideal start to the team’s postseason quest.
“We wanted to save as much pitching as we possibly
could going into the next round,” Gridley said. “When
you use your third pitcher, you use your No. 4 to start
the second round. We pitched well and played well defensively.
You want to use as little pitching as possible.”
“The guys are very excited,” Gridley said. “It never
gets old. We’ve done it for a long time but nobody takes
it for granted.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve won and three
Game 7 losses doesn’t help. We’re very excited to get
back on the field and keep it going.”
Irvine, Nashua can’t hold off Navigators
By Joshua Kummins
LYNN — The third-seeded
North Shore Navigators live to
play another round in the Futures
Collegiate Baseball League postseason
after coming from behind
to earn an 8-7 win over the Nashua
Silver Knights in Monday night’s
single-elimination, opening-round
contest at Fraser Field.
Designated hitter Logan Bravo
(Harvard) hit a three-run home run
to cap a four-run rally in the seventh
inning before Marblehead native
Beau Dana (Dickinson) recorded a
six-out save in North Shore’s first
playoff appearance since 2016.
The win also lifts the Navs, who
finished the regular season with a
30-25 record and were 1.5 games
behind Brockton and Bristol at the
top of the standings, to their first
semifinal appearance since 2016.
North Shore will play against second-seeded
Bristol in a best-ofthree
semifinal series, with the
opening game set for Tuesday night
at Muzzy Field.
Third baseman Andrew Olszak
(Southern Maine) and center
fielder Ben Malgeri (Holy Cross)
both had multiple hits for the Navs
who recorded 10 as a team. On
the mound, Virginia Tech commit
Griffin Green worked around two
hits and a run to earn his first collegiate
win.
The Silver Knights came out
swinging over the first two innings,
tallying four hits in each frame to
take a commanding 5-0 lead that
chased North Shore starter and
Swampscott native Gavin Sullivan
(Stetson) from the game after just
five outs.
Four consecutive Nashua runners
reached base to start the game.
After center fielder Ben Irvine
(Maryland) of Peabody and designated
hitter Dylan Jones (Franklin
Pierce) singled and moved up on a
balk, right fielder Kyle Sandstrom
(Charleston Southern) hit a single
to right to score them both for the
first two runs of the game.
FILE PHOTO
Peabody’s Ben Irvine was one of four consecutive Nashua hitters to reach base. He eventually
scored, but the Silver Knights couldn’t hold off the North Shore Navigators.