Peabody manager Mike Giardi, right, takes out starting pitcher Max Guertin. Item Photo by Katie Morrison
By John Madigan
BEVERLY — The Beverly Recs won the North Shore Baseball League Championship with an 8-4 victory over the Peabody Champions in Game 7 of the best-of-seven series Friday night at Cooney Field.
In the top of the first inning, Peabody took a 4-0 lead when John Cahill hit a grand slam to left field. The inning started with an infield single by David Ruggiero. Zach Keenan walked and Chad Martin was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases for Cahill. But, that would be the only offense the Champions could put together Friday night.
Cahill’s grand slam was the only blemish of the night for Beverly starting pitcher Alex Teal, who buckled down to finish the game after a tough first inning. Teal pitched a complete game, allowing four earned runs on four hits to go along with four strikeouts.
Beverly’s offense found its rhythm in the bottom of the second, exploding for six runs. Cameron Houze started the rally with a double to right field, then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Peabody starting pitcher Max Guerin struggled to find the strike zone, and walked three batters to give Beverly its first run of the game.
Mike Gallo was brought on in relief of Guerin, who lasted 1 1/3 innings for Peabody.
Dillon Gonzalez made it 4-2 on a sacrifice fly before Alex Toomey popped up to Martin, who dropped the ball, allowing three Beverly runs to score.
The disastrous inning continued for Peabody when an infield error allowed Toomey to score, giving the Recs a 6-4 lead.
That was all Beverly needed, as Teal continued to keep the Peabody offense quiet throughout the remainder of the game.
Beverly added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth, with RBI singles from Matt Correale and Gonzalez to extend its to 8-4.
In the top of the seventh, Ruggiero hit a one-out single for Peabody, but it wasn’t meant to be, as Teal forced Derek Lyons to pop out before getting Mark Shorey to fly out to left field to end the game.