By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — The road to Williamsport came to an end for the Lynnfield 12-year-old Little League team on July 14 as they lost 2-1 in seven innings to West Lynn at East Lynn Field.
With that defeat, Lynnfield finished at 2-2 in District 16 action.
“It was a very difficult loss,” admitted Lynnfield manager Steve Walsh. “Our pitching and defense was tremendous but we just didn’t hit enough.”
Lynnfield scored first in the bottom of the third inning as James Pasquale had an RBI single to bring home Cam Chisholm who reached base on an infield single.
West Lynn tied it in the fourth on a home run.
They then scored the eventual game-winning run with two outs in the top of the seventh.
Lynnfield threatened in the bottom of the seventh as they had two runners on but West Lynn was able to close the door.
Grant Neal pitched in relief, going 1 1/3 innings. He relieved Pasquale, who started and gave up just one run in 5.2 innings.
Lynnfield had eight hits led by Coley Walsh and Jared Burke, who both went 2 for 4.
On July 13, Lynnfield played against West Peabody and ended up losing 5-0 to the eventual District 16 champs at Pine Hill Field in Lynn.
“They have an exceptional program over there,” acknowledged Walsh. “They have been good for many years.”
This game started in the second inning with West Peabody already up 2-0. They then scored once in the third and twice more in the fourth.
Lynnfield had just three hits overall.
Pasquale pitched the first two innings. Charlie Pizzotti then pitched the next two innings. Neal and Burke then pitched the final two frames.
Overall, Walsh was proud of his team.
“We were in every game and played well on defense,” he said “We also got some good pitching. This is a good group of kids that played hard and made their parents proud.”
The team will play together next month in the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, New York in a big tournament that features several teams from the northeast.
