THE LHS baseball seniors were honored before their 10-0 victory over Manchester-Essex, their eighth in a row, on Saturday. Pictured from left to right is Ryan MacEachern, Cole Hawes, Owen Mullin, Anthony Grabau, David Tracy, Matt Papagikos and Dylan Damiani. (Courtesy Photo)
After press time:
Lynnfield defeats Amesbury 16-2 (May 18)
Lynnfield defeats Rockport 11-0 (May 16)
Lynnfield defeats North Reading 6-5 (May 14)
Published May 15, 2024
LYNNFIELD — It was another banner week for the Lynnfield High baseball team as they picked up wins over Newburyport, Manchester-Essex and Essex Tech, pushing their winning streak to eight games and officially clinching a spot in the Div. 4 state tournament.
Of course, that was just a formality for the Pioneers (12-2), ranked 3rd in the latest D4 power rankings released on Tuesday morning behind No. 1 Seekonk (13-2) and No. 2 Uxbridge (13-2).
Lynnfield’s anticipation of a deep run in the tournament hasn’t distracted them from taking care of business as, in addition to the current winning streak, they have won 11 of their last 12. Their only two losses this season have come to Triton and Georgetown, both in early April and both by just one run.
In their last 12, Lynnfield has averaged 7.2 runs for and just 1.6 runs against.
That type of complete-team dominance has equaled wins in all varieties. That was no different last week as the Pioneers won two close games — 3-0 over the Clippers on Tuesday and 3-1 over the Hornets on Thursday — and one blowout — 10-0 over the Hawks.
On the road against Newburyport, senior captain David Tracy earned a two-hit, shutout, never letting the Clippers get going. Senior captain Owen Mullin’s RBI base hit opened the scoring in the 2nd and later got on and came around to score on a knock from senior Dylan Damiani. Senior Matt Papagikos had the final RBI hit in the 7th as Tracy cruised.
In another tense matchup on Thursday at home, it was sophomore Ben Dahlstedt who impressed on the bump with another complete game effort in which he struck out 10 while scattering three hits.
Tracy came through in all the key moments for Lynnfield, racking up 3 RBI to lead the way. He scored senior captain Anthony Grabau in the 3rd and brought home junior captain Tyler Adamo and sophomore Drew George with another base hit in the 4th.
Lynnfield had quite enough of the close games when they celebrated Senior Day on Saturday against Manchester-Essex, piling up 10 runs on 13 hits in six innings of a mercy-rule win.
The Pioneers celebrated Mullin, Papagikos, Tracy, Grabau, Damiani, Ryan MacEachern and Cole Hawes before the game.
MacEachern had a memorable Senior Day, shutting out the Hornets through six in a sharp, two-hitter. He also had two hits and scored two of Lynnfield’s 10 runs.
Some more strong games at the plate came from Grabau (3 hits, 5 RBI), Damiani (2RBI) and Mullin (RBI). Adamo and junior Madux Iovinelli each added two hits in the rout.
Lynnfield has six more regular season games scheduled in the final two weeks. They traveled to rival North Reading on Tuesday after press time. They host Rockport on Thursday at 4 p.m. and travel to Amesbury on Saturday at 10 a.m.
