LYNN — Danvers survived a late-inning rally and powered to a 17-6 win over Peabody to earn the Gallant Tournament crown Monday night at Reinfuss Field.
Caleb White (3-for-4 with a walk and 5 RBI) led the way for Danvers, driving in runs on all three of his hits which included a solo home run in the sixth. Steven Reardon (4-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run), Tony Silva (2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBI), and Jake Hamel (1-for-4 with walk and 2 RBI) all drove in two runs each for Danvers. Michael Moroney and Brady Plaza also had 1 RBI each.
Moroney started the game for Danvers on the mound, throwing five no-hit innings while striking out nine. Moroney finished the night allowing four earned runs on two hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks through 5 2/3 innings.
“Michael was lights out and had total command for most of the night,” Danvers manager Dave Gotts said. “He just ran out of gas with one out away and we couldn’t put the nail in the coffin right away.”
Despite the loss, Peabody strung together a six-run sixth inning to prevent a shutout. The inning was highlighted by a three-run double by Cam Connolly and a RBI single from Reymi Andino.
“Danvers was a great team,” Peabody manager Steve Zizza said. “Tonight was all about pitching, they have some of the best pitchers this side of the state. It was a tough battle all night long.
“Im very proud of these guys they represented the city very well and didn’t die out there,” Zizza added. “They kept fighting and played all five games hard. I’m very proud of my guys.”
Danvers got on the board first, loading the bases and scoring two runs on an infield error in the third inning. Later in the inning, Plaza hit a RBI single to put Danvers up 3-0.
From there on the Danvers’ offense came alive. In the fourth inning, Reardon laced a two-run home run to left-center and White added a two-run double to put Danvers up 8-0. Silva also added a run with a RBI single to extend the lead to 9-0.
Two more runs were added in the fifth inning thanks to one RBI each from Moroney and Hamel. White then added a solo home run to left to put Danvers up 11-0 in the sixth inning.
However, Peabody didn’t go down without a fight. Colin Ridley bunted for a single to give Peabody their first hit of the game in the sixth. Later in the inning Peabody rallied with two outs to score six runs thanks to RBIs from Nick Villano, Connolly and Andino and cut the lead to 11-6
The comeback fell short however and Danvers added six runs of its own in the seventh in an inning highlighted by RBIs from Hamel, White and Silva.
Reardon came on in relief to stop the Peabody rally with a strikeout in the sixth and closed things down in the seventh to secure the 17-6 win for Danvers.
After an impressive tournament for Danvers on the mound and at the plate, Reardon also took home the tournament MVP award for his team.
“We got it from every up and down the order,” Gotts said. “It’s a great group of kids, very respectful, fun to be with and they are great ball players every one of them.”