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Newton North stuns Peabody in see-saw slugfest

Thursday, May, 29 By By Matt Williams
Staff writer

PEABODY | At the crack of the bat, it looked and sounded perfect.

With the Peabody High baseball team trailing by a run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning of yesterday's Division 1 North first round contest against  Newton North, Pat Yeo laced a torpedo towards left field that had the Tanners thinking walk-off win.

Newton North's Kyle Ross had other ideas. The shortstop made a tremendous leaping catch to record the final out and hand No. 11 Peabody (15-8) a stunning 16-15 loss to the 22nd seeded Tigers (11-10) at Donahue Field.

"When I heard it, I thought we had lost | I was preparing the concession speech," said Newton North coach Joe Siciliano. "Then I saw Kyle jump, and when I saw him pump his fist I knew we'd won."

The Tanners had looked doom in the eye twice before the Tigers finally closed the door, erasing a one-run deficit in the ninth and a two-run hole in the 11th. Yeo, who scored the tying run in the ninth and knocked in one in the 11th, couldn't bring Peabody back a third time.

As senior Gary Girolimo sat dejected on second base some 20 minutes after Ross' leaping grab, the reality that Peabody had failed to win a postseason game for the first time since 1997 and this talented group was headed home empty handed began sinking in.

"I felt coming in that this was the best team I'd had here and since we didn't win a tournament game, in that way, it qualifies as the worst. It doesn't make sense," said Bettencourt. "It was hard to talk to our team (afterwards) without getting emotional. They don't deserve something like this but that's how the game is sometimes."

Girolomo and Josh Band led off the 12th with walks and Danny Mello watched two balls before Siciliano lifted his pitcher in favor of Mike Walsh, who had pitched earlier and returned. He got Mello to fly out, allowed a run on a double from Kevin Skop and loaded the bases on a James Noftle single. Tom Ciulla popped out before Yeo's line-out ended it.

In the end, it was walks that did the Tanners in. Peabody issued a total of 13 free passes and seven of those came around to cross the plate. Three of the four runs the Tigers scored in extra innings reached on walks. Add a pair of errors by Peabody's typically sure-handed infield and the home team was left swallowing a very bitter pill.

Newton North's Mike Walsh (2 for 8) hit a two-run double with the bases loaded in the 11th to push Peabody to the brink. The Tanners responded with a Noftle (4 for 7, two runs) double, a Ciulla sacrifice fly and Yeo's triple off the centerfield fence to force yet another inning, 14-14.

Earlier, the Tanners were three outs away from advancing when the Tigers strung together three hits, two walks and three runs in the top of the ninth. Yeo was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the frame, stole second, advanced to third on a balk and scored on Brian Latorella's sac fly to tie the score 12-12 after regulation.

"This was like a heavyweight fight. It was a question of who would outlast the other guys," said Bettencourt.

Peabody got out of the gates quickly, seizing a 4-1 lead after two innings on RBIs by Skop (4 for 7, 3 RBI), Noftle and Band (3 for 7). Starting pitcher Marc Linehan fanned the first two batters he faced and it appeared the Tanners were firing on all cylinders.

Newton North came alive in the fourth and fifth. The Tigers batted around in each inning, thanks in part to five free passes and an error, and racked up an 8-4 lead while chasing both Linehan (3.2 IP, five runs, four Ks) and reliever Chris Gaudet.

"Our pitching really didn't come through today," said Bettencourt.

Yeo brought the Tanners back to life in the bottom of the fifth. The senior outfielder jacked a three-run homer 390 feet over the centerfield fence to knot it up 8-8.

"That game describes our team. We could've given up a number of times and they never did," Bettencourt said. "We have 10 seniors and they have the hearts of tigers. Right down the line from Yeo with his bomb and triple to (Jared) Shields with his hits, every kid had an opportunity to shine and stepped up."

Shields (3 for 6, two runs) scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and after Mello scored on a beautifully executed hit-and-run with Skop at bat, the Tanners were back in control. Shields knocked in an insurance run in the seventh and Newton North was staring at an 11-9 hole and elimination.

The Tigers, who totaled 14 hits, went down in order in the sixth and seventh, and put up little fight in the eighth. But it all changed in the ninth as Peabody closer Pat Dumas couldn't close the door.

He was hampered by six walks over three innings of work, including one that drew the ire of Peabody assistant Garrett Greer. A borderline 3-2 pitch was ruled outside by the homeplate umpire, and Greer | a 2000 PHS alum who was an all-state catcher | was ejected after a loud argument with the ump.

"There were a few calls that could have gone either way but you have to overcome those," said Bettencourt. "When that happens, you have to decide to step up and play that much better. For the most part, we were able to do that.

"We just came up a little short today and that's a shame for these kids."