By SCOT COOPER
LYNN — If you’re a fan of strikeouts and the long ball, there were lots of the former and one of the latter as Peabody West squeezed past Pine Hill in Tuesday night’s District 16 11-12-year-old all-star game at Pine Hill. The home run belonged to Peabody West, a solo shot by Giovanni Guglielmo in the bottom of the fourth good for the only run of the game as Peabody won, 1-0.
Pine Hill’s Steve Pedro was excellent on the mound for his team, giving up just two hits and fanning 10. Unfortunately for Pedro and his teammates, Peabody West’s Mike Geissler was on target too, as he whiffed 15 batters and didn’t allow a hit.
Geissler said he and his teammates did not adhere to the old adage that you do not mention to your pitcher that he’s in the middle of a no-hitter.
“The guys were saying it on the bench, that I was pitching a no-hitter starting in the third inning. I went up to my coach (Steve Porcella) and told him that I was pitching a no-hitter,” Geissler said. “I just tried to throw strikes and I was pretty happy when Mike hit that home run. We have a good team and this was a good win.”
Pine Hill didn’t get a runner on until the top of the third when Pedro reached on an infield error and took second when the throw sailed past the first baseman. Geissler came back with a strikeout, but then walked David Brown to put two on with one out. Geissler punched out the next two batters and then struck out five of the final six batters to lock it up for Peabody West.
Guglielmo said after the game that he hit eight homers during the regular season, but Tuesday night’s home run past the left field fence was his biggest of the year so far.
“He (Pedro) threw me a fastball and I was able to get a good swing on it and hit it out,” Guglielmo said. “I think I knew it was out when I hit it because I got a good swing on it.”
Peabody West manager Steve Porcella said it was a game that featured two excellent pitching performances and he’s glad his team was able to push one home against Pedro.
“Their pitcher did a nice job, and Mike pitched extremely well for us, it was a great game by both teams. We would have liked to get some better at-bats, but we’ll work on that for the next game,” Porcella said. “You could tell that that one, two runs were going to win this game and we were able to get that run.”
For Pedro and Pine Hill, it was a tough loss, allowing just two hits, the homer to Guglielmo and a single by Tyler Fawcett. Pine Hill manager Rich Avery said he’s confident his team will bounce back.
“Peabody West has an excellent team, and to be in a 1-0 game with them, we just need to work on getting more hits,” Avery said. “It was just one pitch tonight, and it wasn’t a bad pitch, their guy just got a good swing on it.”