ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Christian Burt and David Barnard celebrate winning the Lynn Babe Ruth NE Regional championship game against Providence/Smithfield RI at Fraser Field Tuesday. They now move on to North Dakota in August.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — The Greater Lynn Babe Ruth 15-year-old team is going to the World Series.
Lynn earned the right to travel to Williston, N.D., next month by virtue of defeating North Providence/Smithfield, R.I., in the New England Regional final Tuesday at Fraser Field, 5-1.
It was not an easy game. Rhode Island’s Andre Solis stymied Lynn for four innings on just two hits, nursing a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning before Lynn finally got going.
“He was tough,” said Lynn manager Leon Elwell. “He is a very good pitcher.”
Lynn’s David Barnard, pitching on short rest, was just as tough. He allowed only four hits in going the distance, and settled into a rhythm after running into wildness in the second, when Rhode Island scored its only run.
Even in the fifth, when Lynn finally broke through, it didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball. Walks hurt Solis more than hits, not to mention a wild pitch that scored a run.
Trailing 1-0 going into the top of the fifth, Lynn got back-to-back walks to A.J. Luciano and Dayshon Anderson, one of the co-MVPs, and then a scratch single by Anthony Nikolakakis to load the bases.
After Zach Elwell popped to first, Brett Bucklin also drew a walk, forcing home Luciano with the tying run.
Here’s where things got a little funky. First, a wild pitch brought home Anderson with the second run and gave Lynn its first lead of the day, 2-1. Then, pinch-hitter Erick Ubri flared one over a drawn-in infield and Nikolakakis scored easily with the third run.
Bucklin ran right through Elwell’s stop sign at third base and was thrown out at home. Elwell argued, saying that catcher Morgan Doughty had blocked the plate before being in possession of the ball, which would be obstruction.
Bucklin was then ruled safe. Then, Rhode Island manager Eric Seaberg argued that the rule was being misapplied, and the umpires reversed their reversal and called Bucklin out. Elwell asked the protest committee, which is in place for every game, to rule. It favored Seaberg’s argument, and Bucklin was declared out.
“I just wanted to be sure,” he said. “I wasn’t arguing whether he was out or safe, but whether there was obstruction when their catcher blocked the plate without the ball,” he said. “I thought they were interpreting the rule wrong. Thankfully, though, it all worked out.”
The inning underscored a tense game that would only get more tense as Lynn sought to pad its lead in the top of the seventh inning.
“I said to the kids going into the inning that we’re going to have to scratch and claw to get a couple of more, just to feel safe,” Elwell said.
Luciano led off by scorching one that just fell foul in left, then doing the same thing again, only fair. The ball rolled to the fence and Luciano had a double. Anderson reached on an error, with Luciano going to third, and Nikolakakis’ infield hit knocked him him.
Bucklin reached on another error, with Anderson coming home and Nikolakakis going to third. Kevin Durant tried to squeeze him in, but pitcher Christian Matarise fired home to Doughty, who applied the tag.
However, Seaberg argued that Nikolakakis should have slid, and that Durant, who had reached on the fielder’s choice, should be out. He was overruled by the umpires, but continued to argue until he was ejected.
Barnard got through the seventh without trouble, and Lynn had its championship — and its first trip, at any baseball level, to the World Series in 33 years.
“I don’t know how I feel at the moment,” said Elwell, whose son, Zach, is a catcher on the team. “I’m just proud of them, and happy for them. This has been a great group of kids, and it’s been a pleasure to coach them”
NOTES: Barnard was voted the tournament’s outstanding pitcher while Anderson and Christian Burt, who pitched superbly in Monday’s semifinal win over Trumbull, Conn., were co-MVPs … The starter, Barnard, was an 11th-hour choice. Originally, Bucklin was going to get the nod, but Elwell asked Barnard to throw a bullpen session and to tell him how he felt afterward. When Barnard said he felt well enough to throw, he got the ball … Burt is the son of former St. Mary’s star Tim Burt and cousin to Boston College women’s hockey goalie Katie Burt … Williston is in the northwest corner of North Dakota, close to both the Canadian border and the Montana state line.