RallyNorth.net

Peabody thumps Lynn Classical

Thursday, April, 24 By Jean DePlacido
Staff writer

It was a two-way domination for the Peabody High baseball team yesterday.

The bats were booming for the Tanners in a 10-0 shutout over Lynn Classical. Peabody banged out 15 hits and broke the game open with a seven-run third inning.

The other half of the story was left-handed ace Kevin Skop recording his third straight win.

Eight of the nine starters collected at least one hit off Rams No. 1 pitcher Luis Castillo, who battled all the way. Seven of the Tanners hits were for extra bases, and eight players drove in runs.

"We came out aggressively and swung the bats with authority," Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt said after he saw his team improve to 5-2. "We worked the count to our advantage and were hitting the gaps today. We had all three three big things | pitching, defense and timely hitting.

"Skop threw strikes all game and we were able to get him some runs early. Hitting is contagious. When you see people banging the ball around the yard it spreads all through the lineup."

The Tanners scored a run in the bottom of the first and another in the second before breaking it wide open in the third when they sent 11 batters to the plate, collected eight hits -- six for extra bases -- and scored seven times. Josh Band started it off with the first of two doubles in the inning, Skop singled and James Noftle delivered a two run triple.

Other key hits in that inning included RBI doubles by Pat Yeo, Danny Mello, and Band along with a run-producing single by designated hitter Marc Linehan. That was more than enough for Skop, who cruised through five innings, scattering two hits and a walk while striking out six. The Rams had only four runners all game and they never went further than second base. Reliever Pat Dumas came on to pitch hitless ball in the last two innings.

"It was hot today and that's the kind of weather I like," said Skop, who retired the last six batters he faced in order. "I felt real good right from the start and tried to keep the batters off balance by changing my pitches a lot. I don't mind having a long wait between innings when my team is putting up runs like that. I just try to relax and take it easy."

Mello, Band, Noftle, Gary Girolamo, Yeo, and Jared Shields all had two-hit games. Noftle drove in a pair of runs while Skop, Shields, Yeo, Linehan, Mello, Band, and Girolamo each had one RBI.

"This was Castillo's second start, and he battled through it all the way," said Classical coach Mike Zukowski, whose team dropped to 1-4. "Luis only gave up a couple of walks (3), but that Peabody team is so solid. They pounded the ball all through their lineup and there are no weak spots anywhere. This is a tough one for us and we know we have a lot of stuff to work on."

Both coaches went to their benches by the fifth inning and got a lot of different people in the game. Peabody hopes to keep it going at Revere tomorrow in another Northeastern Conference game.

"We want to get on a roll," Bettencourt said. "A performance like this is great, but I keep reminding the kids not to forget about Salem (1-0 loss.) Any team is capable of having a game like that and we have to make sure not to repeat it."