RallyNorth.net

Sun, May 18, 2008 07:00 PM @ Peabody

Team	Final
Tewksbury	1
Peabody	4

Dumas, Skop power Peabody past Tewksbury

Sunday, May, 18 By Jean DePlacido
Staff writer

PEABODY -- Pat Dumas is accustomed to getting saves for the Peabody High baseball team. Last night, the junior closer's performance could be characterized as more of a rescue.

Facing a five-game week, Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt knew his pitching staff needed time to regroup for the stretch run. Dumas' complete-game victory -- in his first varsity start -- was just what the Tanners were looking for.

Dumas scattered seven hits and worked his way out of trouble in the early innings with the help of some nifty defensive played behind him as Peabody slipped past Tewksbury, 4-1.

"It wasn't my A game, but I was able to go the distance," said Dumas. "Coach Bettencourt gave me a speech after the fourth inning -- he told me to just throw the ball to the catcher's mitt. After that I settled down and threw more strikes. I started feeling more comfortable."

Kevin Skop staked Dumas to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with one swing of the bat, blasting a towering three-run homer over the right field fence to plate Gary Girolamo and Danny Mello. Girolamo was 4 for 4 (all singles) in the leadoff spot.

Tewksbury's lone run came in the second on an RBI single by DH Matt Luppi, but Dumas was able to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam by getting leadoff hitter Mike Ferriero to hit into a fielder's choice.

The Redmen, who have already clinched the Merrimack Valley Division 2 crown, dropped to 12-3 with the loss. They threatened again in the third when pitcher Ronnie Wallace singled, and Mike Delponte doubled with one down, but Dumas struck out the next batter and got Scott Oberg to pop up to end the threat.

Again in the fourth they loaded the bases, but came up empty. Kevin Lyons beat out an infield hit, but after Luppi followed with a single up the middle Lyons was picked off second on a heads-up play by Dumas. That turned out to be huge because No. 9 hitter Bobby Burns followed with a bloop single.

"Missed opportunities killed us," said Tewksbury coach Ron Drouin. "We ran ourselves out of innings with too many mistakes. Having runners on second and third with only one down and not getting any runs when we were only down by two, and then getting picked off -- we just didn't make good use of our opportunities."

Wallace is the No. 2 pitcher on the Tewksbury staff, and the junior allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out five. Peabody's final run came in the sixth inning when Brian Latorella, who had reached on a dropped third strike, scored on a passed ball with the bases loaded.

"We had so many opportunities, but kept waiting for the big hit," said Bettencourt, his Tanners now 12-5 overall. "Luckily Skop came through early, and it stood up because Wallace got stronger as the game went on. We had runners on base, but he made some big pitches to get out of jams. Give him a lot of credit for that.

"I can't say enough about the job Dumas did in his first start. He has made 11 appearances in relief, going one or two innings at the most this season. I kept asking him if he was tired, and he said he wasn't. When they kept getting runners on I started thinking about taking him out, but let him go a little longer and he got his second wind. What a competitor he is. That's what we have on this team -- a bunch of competitors."

Dumas retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, and his teammates made some big plays to help him out. Josh Band was a vacuum cleaner at shortstop, playing deep in the hole and making the throws on ground balls.

The defensive gem came with two down in the seventh and a runner on first base when Pat Devlin hit a shot to right field. Skop raced toward the fence and stuck out his glove for a one-handed stab with his back to the plate to end the game. He robbed Devlin of at least a double with that highlight grab.

"What a catch," said Bettencourt. "That ball was tailing away from him. I thought we played great defense all game. The kids knew Dumas was finally getting his chance to start, and they tried a little harder to make the plays behind him."