ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Matt Stanley pitched Connery to its second win of the season.
By HAROLD RIVERA
LYNN — Coming into Monday night’s game against Peabody/Middleton, the Connery Post 6 American Legion baseball team knew it was in for a battle. Luckily for Connery (2-2), starting pitcher Matt Stanley was ready for a battle.
Stanley tossed five strong innings on the mound en route to a 4-2 win over Peabody/Middleton at Fraser Field.
Connery coach Doug Collins was pleased with Stanley’s effort in the win.
“Matt was coming off a tough outing the other day,” Collins said. “I was very confident that he was going to bounce back and he had a great game. He was a little rusty coming into this but he found his groove for sure. He picked us up in a big spot.”
Stanley worked himself out of jams with runners in scoring position in four of his five innings and allowed the Connery bats to earn the win with timely hits.
The first of those was an RBI double from David Barnard, scoring A.J. Luciano for the 1-0 Connery lead with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.
“We knew with the pitcher we have (Stanley) that we just had to stay in the game offensively,” Collins said. “They’re a good team, they play good defense but we just had to have a good approach up there.”
Stanley sent Peabody/Middleton down in order in the top of the second but ran into trouble in the third. After Peabody/Middleton starting pitcher Jake Zeuli forced Connery to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, the visitors took advantage with a two-run rally to claim the lead.
Peabody/Middleton’s Justin Juliano reached on an infield error and took second on a comebacker to Stanley off Blaise Romanowski’s bat. Andrew Manni followed with an RBI double, scoring Juliano for the 1-1 tie. Mike Stellato kept the rally alive with a laser that became Connery’s second infield error of the inning, allowing Manni to score for the 2-1 lead.
Connery answered quickly in the bottom of the third. Ryan Turenne walked to lead the inning and Barnard followed with a single. Turenne and Barnard found themselves on second and third after a wild pitch and Tyler Donovan brought the pair home with a two-RBI single. Donovan’s key hit made it a 3-2 game in Connery’s favor.
“We never settled,” Mullins said. “Our guys never got down when we went down 2-1. We felt like we were still playing with a lead and we played well.”
Connery added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Jackson Allard drew a walk with the bases loaded. Connery’s patience paid off in the fifth as the team drew three walks, with a single in between, to bump its lead to 4-2.
“Peabody/Middleton’s a solid team,” Mullins said. We knew we were in for a dogfight. It’s nice to play with people in the stands. That kind of gives the game a playoff atmosphere. It was a good win for our guys moving forward.”
A throwing error in the top of the seventh allowed Peabody/Middleton’s Cole Cuzzi to reach first base with no outs but Connery reliever Devin Curley forced a pop-up and a 6-4-3 double play to seal the 4-2 win.
“Connery’s a big, strong team,” Peabody/Middleton coach John Kowalski said. “Stanley was throwing strikes and they hit the ball. They had that double early in the game and played a little bit better than us tonight.
“We allowed too many guys to get on base with some walks and a couple errors, things that led to the runs,” Kowalski added. “In general, we have a good team as does Lynn.”
Both teams are back in action on Wednesday when Peabody/Middleton hopes to bounce back against Haverhill while Connery battles against Danvers.