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Having already clinched a berth in the state tournament, the Rockport baseball team's matchup with one-win Manchester Essex looked to be a classic trap game.

Sure enough, the Vikings were given a run for their money from a very spirited Hornets squad. But fortunately for Rockport, they were able to stay out of the trap thanks to a three-run seventh inning en route to a 9-7 win yesterday at Memorial Field in Essex.

The Generals scored all four runs in the fifth inning, but Rockport had already crossed the plate six times in the fourth to put the game away Saturday night. Matt Greeke and Matt Cook provided RBI singles and Pat Twomey and Dan Mulley also knocked in runs while freshman Pat Hendrickson pitched well despite being saddled with the 9-4 loss.

The Rockport baseball team came into yesterday's matchup with Georgetown looking to accomplish two things.

First they were looking to knock off their Cape Ann League rivals. But more importantly, they were looking to clinch a berth in the state tournament.

Clinching a state tournament spot will have to wait for another day for the Rockport baseball team as they lost, 11-5, to visiting Pentucket at Evans Field yesterday afternoon.   

The Vikings (8-6, 5-5) came back to tie it after being down 5-0 early but couldn't answer Pentucket's (8-4, 6-3) six runs in the last two innings.

At the start of a tough week with four games in it, Fishermen senior pitcher Kyle Habecker gave his teammates and coaches exactly what they needed: quality innings.

"It was a very solid performance," said Gloucester (7-6) head coach Joe Orlando about Habecker. "He kept them off-balance and most importantly, he ate up the innings."

It may have taken over four hours to complete, but the Rockport Vikings couldn't think of a better way to spend a Tuesday night, as they defeated Triton, 6-5 in 11 innings. The victory sent the Vikings over .500 with a 6-5 record.

Don't count the Gloucester baseball team out of the postseason quite yet.

The Fishermen continued their march back to .500 with an 8-5 victory over Lynn Classical in eight innings yesterday afternoon. Gloucester, which has struggled to play consistent ball throughout the season, has now won two straight games to raise its record to 5-6.

At the halfway point of the spring season, the Gloucester High School baseball team is in desperate need of wins.

Unfortunately, Gloucester's schedule isn't doing it any favors, and neither are the recent powerhouse ballclubs that the Fishermen have been facing.

Senior left-hander Jack Leathersich allowed just five hits and struck out 12 for his third win in four decisions as the host Panthers walloped Gloucester, 7-1, at Brother Roberts Field.

Leathersich also helped himself offensively with a 2-run homer to pace the Panthers (7-3).

After watching his team cough up late leads in two straight losses, Gloucester junior second baseman Ross Carlson made sure it wouldn't happen a third time.

Carlson's RBI single with two outs plated junior first baseman Trevor Curley (2 for 4, two runs) to give the Fishermen a much-needed 6-5 upset victory over Swampscott (1-5) in eight innings at Nate Ross Field. With the win Gloucester improved to 2-4, a better record than the Big Blue, who came into the season as a Northeastern Conference favorite.

After winning three in a row, the Vikings (4-2) ran into the unbeaten Chieftains (6-0) on the road and came away very impressed with the Cape Ann Div. 1 powerhouse.

"They could be one of the best teams in the state," noted Rockport head coach John Parisi. "Their starting pitcher kept us off-balance, throwing hard and then mixing in some tough curveballs."  

There is no quit in this Salem High baseball team.

The Witches, who trailed by five runs in the fifth inning at Gloucester yesterday, rallied behind Harry Noone and Ben Henderson for an 11-8 triumph over the Fishermen for their third straight win.

During the 2007 season, the Rockport baseball team was plagued by a lack of offense. Ironically, in the early going of the 2008 season, the Vikings have been carried by their offense, scoring 40 runs over the first four games of the season.

It's safe to say the Gloucester baseball team didn't start the season the way they would've liked to.

The Fishermen fell to Masconomet and Winthrop by a combined score of 26-4 in their first two games of the spring. However, Gloucester took a step toward righting the ship yesterday with a 4-2 win on the road at Saugus. Junior lefty Brett Smith gave the Fishermen (1-2) a much-needed quality start on the mound, going 6 2/3  innings and striking out six.

The Manchester Essex baseball team has been hitting and pitching effectively. Now they just need to get their defense squared away.

The Hornets committed nine errors yesterday, which led to nine unearned runs in a 15-7 loss to Georgetown. It was the second consecutive game that Manchester Essex (0-2) was plagued by defensive miscues.