LYNN– The West Lynn Red Sox jumped out to an early lead and held on to earn a 5-4 win over the Wyoma Athletics in the Lynn City Series Monday evening at Kiley Park.
Ben Marciano started on the mound for West Lynn, pitching 3 2/3 innings. Marciano allowed three earned runs while striking out nine and walking three batters. Almani Medina and Janier Rodriguez came in as relief pitchers for West Lynn. Medina pitched 1 ⅔ shutout innings while allowing no hits, striking out two and walking two batters. Rodriguez came in for the last out, allowing no earned runs on one hit with one strikeout.
“The kids played hard,” West Lynn manager Rich Contreras said. “It was a good game and a tough game. At the end I think I was more stressed out than them. We have a lot of missing kids so a lot kids are new playing the infield and they did an awesome job.”
All three pitchers also led West Lynn’s offense.
Marciano (1-for-4 with 2 RBI) had a single with the bases loaded to score what would become the winning runs. Medina (1-for-3 with a walk and 1 RBI) also drove in a run while Rodriguez (1-for-2 with a walk and HBP) scored twice for West Lynn.
For Wyoma, Andrew Potter (1-for-2 with a walk) and Chris Marks (1-for-3) each had 1 RBI. Wyoma struggled on the mound, walking eight batters in the loss.
“We went down early but we battled back right until the end,” Wyoma manager Mike Marks said. “We just couldn’t get the ball over the plate early.
“It was a great game,” Marks added. “I tip my cap to West Lynn. They had three very good pitchers, we thought if we could get through the first one or two we might be able to get to them but they had three very tough pitchers.”
West Lynn got on the board when Rodriguez reached on a HBP and Medina drew a walk to start the first inning. A stolen base and two passed balls allowed Rodriguez to score while Medina crossed the plate on an infield error to go up 2-0.
Wyoma responded in the first when a single by Potter brought Joel Maggs all the way around from first base and cut the lead to 2-1.
In the second inning Wyoma ran into trouble again when West Lynn’s Victor Contreras, Joe Bealieu and Eddie Lewis all walked to load the bases with one out. Medina then drove in one run on a single followed by Marciano who singled to score two runs and extend the lead to 5-1.
Wyoma added two more runs in the fourth inning. Jimmy Jennings singled and Justin Jennings walked with one out. A single by the next batter, Chris Marks, scored one run and an outfield error on the play allowed another to score, with Marks advancing to third, making it a two-run game at 5-3.
Down to its last out in the sixth, Wyoma once again added a run. This time it was Justin Jennings, who reached on a triple. Jennings scored and made things interesting, tightening the score to 5-4. However, Wyoma’s rally fell just short as West Lynn’s Rodriguez struck out the last batter of the game to seal the 5-4 win.
The Lynn City Series continues through this week with all games played at Lynn Shore’s Kiley Playground.