WORCESTER — Despite six innings of no-hit ball from junior starter Luke DiSilvio, the No. 2 Lynnfield Pioneers came up short in their quest for a first state title since 1961, losing, 3-2, to No. 5 Millbury in the Division 4 championship game Saturday at Polar Park.
All of the scoring came in the first inning. The Woolies (20-5) took advantage of a couple of seeing-eye singles, a missed opportunity to turn a double play, and a two-run blooper to right to jump out of the gate and put the Pioneers in a three-run hole.
Lynnfield (20-5) came right back in its half of the inning with two to trail 3-2, but neither team did much offensively the rest of the way. While the Pioneers had runners on base in each of the next four innings, Woolies’ freshman starter Ryan Nikiforow had the right stuff when he needed it most, retiring the last eight Pioneers in order to seal the title victory – the Woolies’ first since 1984 and second in program history.
“Millbury came ready to play and made the most of their at-bats in the first inning,” said Lynnfield Coach John O’Brien. “We had a chance to turn the double play and we didn’t, which hurt us. And the fly ball to right that fell in – that’s basically the game right there as it turned out.
“We had a bad first inning. I’m not sure what the kids were thinking or if it was just nerves. But after that, Luke no-hit them. He pitched terrific after that first inning. I’ll give it to them, our kids played hard. I know they took it hard, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out our way. I think they deserved better, but what are you going to do?”
Both teams came ready to hit in this one.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the first, designated hitter Tyler Adamo (1-for-4, R) got things going for Lynnfield with a single. Shortstop Nick Groussis (2-for-3, R) followed with a single, with Adamo advancing to third, and Groussis taking second on the throw to third. Adamo scored on a ground out by center fielder Madux Iovinelli (1-for-3, RBI). With Groussis at third and the Woolies’ infield pulled in, DiSilvio (1-for-3, RBI) kept the line moving with an RBI single through the right side to make it a 3-2 game.
After the shaky start, DiSilvio (7 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 8 K, 2 BB) righted the ship the rest of the way. He retired the next 10 batters before giving up a one-out walk to Donnelly in the top of the fifth. Donnelly was erased on a steal attempt by catcher Drew George, who fired a perfect throw to Groussis.
The only other baserunner allowed by DiSilvio was Chris Havalotti, who drew a one-out walk in the top of the seventh. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt only to be stranded when DiSilvio struck out the final Woolies’ batter.
Meanwhile, Lynnfield had its chances at the plate. Left fielder Charlie Morgan (1-for-3) singled with two outs in the second, but was stranded. In the third, Iovinelli singled with one and advanced to second on a DiSilvio grounder to short, only to be stranded after another ground out.
Lynnfield missed a couple of huge opportunities in the fourth. George (1-for-3) led off with a single and was replaced by courtesy runner Sam Bird. First baseman Matt Tracy (0-for-3) fouled off a bunt attempt, then, with Bird running on the play, missed a second attempt, with Bird thrown out at second. Two batters later, second baseman Dylan Nguyen (1-for-3) ripped a single to left and reached second on a wild pitch only to be stranded, thanks to a defensive gem turned in by McCarthy at third, who robbed Morgan of a bunt single that would have kept the rally going.
“We get a guy on in the fourth inning and we don’t get the bunt down,” O’Brien said. “The next thing you know, our kid gets thrown out at second. Had he gotten to second, we would have tied the game with that base hit. That kid that made the play on Charlie’s bunt – that was the best play I saw all day. I don’t know how he did that from behind the bag and he still threw Charlie out. It was unbelievable.”
That’s all Nikiforow (2 R, 8 H, 6 K) needed to take it to the next level. After Groussis singled with one out in the fifth and stole second, Nikiforow struck out the next two batters to end the threat, then retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings. He did have some help from Havalotti, who robbed Tracy of extra bases with a diving catch of a sinker in the gap in left.
The game was delayed by nearly two hours due to rain and a marathon of a Division 5 final that took more than three hours to complete before the Pioneers took the field.
O’Brien said the long delay wasn’t a factor.
“We were killing the ball before the game. Their mood was great. I just don’t know if we were ready to play in that first inning,” O’Brien said. “But their kid pitched a great game. And you can’t take strike three like we did. Millbury made all the plays and got the good, timely hits when they needed them and we did not. We played well, but unfortunately, they played better.”
O’Brien said Millbury Coach Ron Silvestri told him before the game that he thought Lynnfield had a “great team.
“Here’s a guy who won 600 games in high school – kudos to him,” O’Brien said. “I gave him a big hug and congratulated him and told him his pitcher was terrific.”
O’Brien said he will miss the seniors.
“I can’t say enough about the seniors,” O’Brien said. “I told them that I was very proud of them and that their efforts were fabulous and, ‘You are a great group of kids, especially the seniors and I will miss you.’ There’s not much else you can say. All in all, that’s a good team. They worked hard all winter and spring. To get this far is an accomplishment. To come that close, I know they are distraught and I know my coaches are distraught. They did a great job with these kids.”
