And then there was one, as in your Pioneers’ baseball team is the No. 1 ranked team in the state in Division 4 as of Tuesday.
Lynnfield steamrolled over yet another opponent Saturday to improve to 15-2. This time, the victim was host Amesbury in another mercy-rule shortened game.
The Pioneers pounded out 13 hits – five of them for extra bases – to crush the Indians, 16-2 in six innings.
Luke DiSilvio earned the win with five strong innings of three-hit ball. He allowed two runs, one of them unearned, struck out four and walked one. Ben Dahlstedt closed out the win with one inning of relief. He stuck out three and walked two.
Madux Iovenilli (2-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI) blasted his third homer in two games. Tyler Adamo (3-for-4, 2 doubles,run) and Owen Mullin (2-for-3, run) also had three RBI, while Matt Papagikos (1-for-1, run), Dylan Damiani (2-for-3, double, run) and DiSilvio (1-for-1, double) knocked in two runs apiece. Nick Groussis (1-for-3, 2 runs, RBI) and Anthony Grabau (run) also contributed.
Lynnfield 10
Rockport 0
This one was, well, perfect.
Not only did Lynnfield’s baseball team take care of visiting Rockport in a five-inning mercy-rule win on Thursday, but David Tracy (47 P, 4 K, W) and Tyler Adamo (11 P, 3 K) combined to throw a perfect game.
The Pioneers bats were clicking, pounding out 10 hits. Leading the way was Grabau (1-for-2, home run, 5 RBI), followed by Adamo (2-for-3, run, RBI), Groussis (2-for-2, 2 runs, RBI), and Iovinelli (2-for-3, 2 home runs, 2 RBI, 2 runs). Owen Mullin and Matt Papagikos also had base hits.
The Pioneers (14-2) got to work early. Adamo and Groussis led the first inning off with back-to-back singles. Adamo scored on a wild pitch, which Grabau brought Groussis home with a sac fly to center. Iovinelli made it a 3-0 game with a two-out home run.
Lynnfield bumped the lead to 5-0 in the second, the big hits being an RBI single from Adamo and a sac fly to center from Groussis. Damiani (1-for-2) came up big in the third inning with an RBI double to make it 6-0, then scored on another Adamo sac fly.
Iovinelli blasted his second homer of the game, making it 8-0 in the fourth. Grabau capped the scoring with a three-run bomb in the fifth.
Lynnfield 6
North Reading 5
The Pioneers rattled off four runs in the sixth inning and another in the seventh to knock off archrival North Reading, comeback style, in enemy territory on May 14.
“That was the difference in the game,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien. “Good win.”
Iovinelli had a monster game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run scored. He started and threw four innings of 3-hit ball, allowing four runs (2 unearned) while striking out five. Dahlstedt came on in relief. In three innings, he allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Groussis (2-for-3, run, 3 RBI), Mullin (2-for-3, run, RBI) and Cole Hawes (1-for-3, run, RBI) came up big with clutch hits. Grabau (2-for-4) also contributed to the offense.
Trailing 4-1 in the top of the sixth, the Pioneers scored four runs to take a 5-4 lead, the big hits a three-run double by Groussis and an RBI single from Hawes. In the seventh, Iovinelli singled and scored on Mullin’s single.
Down 6-4 in the bottom of the inning, the Hornets pulled to within one and had the bases loaded with no outs. But a pair of big defensive plays quashed the rally. The first came on a grounder to first. Tracy fired to home to get the lead runner, then Hawes went back to first to second baseman Damiani, who alertly covered the bag. With the tying run now at third, Groussis made a highlight-reel catch on the run in right field to end the game.
“Tyler Adamo was making some really tough plays,” O’Brien said of his shortstop. “And on the last play of the game, Nick came in and caught it to make a nice play.
