ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
English’s Wilbur Rosario throws over Everett’s Mike Sullivan to try and turn a double play.
By HAROLD RIVERA
LYNN– Coming into Monday afternoon’s game against Everett, the Lynn English baseball team was searching for a win after a tough 10-6 loss to Classical last Friday. A three-run rally in the fourth inning was and a dominant performance from pitcher Jason Hennesey was all the Crimson Tide needed for a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs at Fraser Field.
“We got beat today,” English coach Joe Caponigro said. “I don’t feel as bad about is as some other games where we’ve beaten ourselves. Their pitcher (Hennesey) threw strikes, he was no mystery. The run we got we had to work for.”
English pitcher Geraldo Rojas was on his A game in the early goings. He sent the Crimson Tide down in order in his first three innings of work.
“It was an excellent start, Geraldo’s best start of the year,” Caponigro said. “We had a 1-0 performance earlier in the year by Devin Curley and that rivals his performance. He was getting ahead, spotting his fastball and throwing his curveball for strikes.”
English managed just one base runner through the first two innings, a threat that was erased when Wilbur Rosario was thrown out attempting to steal second base in the bottom of the first.
Things took a turn for the better in the bottom of third for English when Alex Rodriguez walked to lead off the frame. Rodriguez advanced to second a sac-bunt by Briston Maynard and then to third on a ground out by Geo Morales.
Rosario brought Rodriguez home with an RBI single up the middle for the 1-0 lead. More impressive is that Rosario’s single came with two strikes in the at-bat.
“We had to work for that run,” Caponigro said. “It was a great at-bat by Wilbur.”
A pair of tough-luck plays hurt the Bulldogs in the top of the fourth. Rojas notched the first two outs of the inning but Brian Bessler reached first when his ground ball deflected off of second base. Evan Reynolds followed with a walk and a misplayed ball in the outfield scored Bessler and Reynolds to give Everett a 2-1 lead. Greg Reed added an RBI single to make it a 3-1 Crimson Tide advantage after three and a half innings.
“The ball hits the base and I don’t know if he had a play on it anyways but he was coming across,” Caponigro said, “and then a tough ball hit to left field. The wind was swirling today but that’s baseball.”
From there, the Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up.
A two-out single off Billy Allen’s bat in the bottom of the fourth came to no avail as the Bulldogs left him stranded at first. Morales singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth but was thrown out attempting to stretch it into a double.
To Everett’s credit, Hennesey buckled down after allowing English to score a run in the third and found his rhythm.
“He (Hennesey) retired nine of our last ten batters,” Caponigro said. “He threw strikes and they made plays. That’s the recipe right there.”
The same can be said for Rojas, who forced Everett to strand a runner on second base in the sixth inning and another on third in the seventh. Rojas allowed four hits while fanning five Everett batters in seven innings of work.
English sent the heart of the order up to bat in the bottom of the seventh. JC Gonzalez beat out an infield single with two outs but the Bulldogs couldn’t string together a rally and Everett took the 3-1 win.
The Bulldogs (5-10) are back on Wednesday night with a rematch against Classical at Fraser Field.