SAUGUS — It’s crunch time for the Peabody baseball team. The Tanners underwent their lumps through the course of the season but remain in the thick of the hunt for a Division 1 North state tournament bid.
Peabody took a step in the right direction Wednesday with a 5-1 win over Saugus at World Series Park. With the win, the Tanners upped their record to 7-8 and need wins in three of their final five regular season games to qualify.
“Game in and game out, we talk about every game can be our last,” Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt said. “We want to avoid that 11th loss. Every game we lose, we get one step closer to that 11th. Every game’s going to be like our last game.”
Pitching and defense were the names of the game for Peabody. Starter Nick Fiore allowed just two hits through five shutout innings. With just one strikeout, Fiore didn’t power his way past Saugus. He let his defense make plays behind him.
“Nick hasn’t pitched all year,” Bettencourt said. “We told him to go out there and throw strikes. He came into the season with a sore arm, worked it out, did his therapy. He gave us five strong innings, pumping strikes. Nick relied on his defense. The defense played well.
“If there’s ever been a year where we’ve had to rely on our defense, it’s this year,” Bettencourt said. “If we get three or four strikeouts a game, that’s a good game. So we have to play a lot of defense. Our outfield has been phenomenal. Ryan Knight made a tremendous catch in center field. Infield-wise (first baseman) Mike Sabella has been a huge part of our defense. Plays he wasn’t making picks on earlier in the year, he’s making those picks now. He’s bailing us out on those throws.”
Dylan Walsh allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. Eddie Campbell sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Saugus’ offense didn’t piece much together in this one. The Sachems tallied just three hits, all singles, and struggled to find the timely hits needed to climb back in.
“I give Peabody credit,” Saugus coach Joe Luis said. “Fiore pitched great. Peabody’s coaching staff called a great game. That’s what they seem to do against us. Coach Bettencourt calls a good game and keeps us off pace. He does a good job.”
Peabody struck for two runs in the top of the first. Calvin Ingemi (2-for-4) led the game with a single and scored on Ryan Knight’s (3-for-4, RBI) RBI single. Anthony Conforti’s (2-for-4, RBI) RBI single scored Mike Tansey for the 2-0 lead.
“The first inning hurt us, going down 2-0,” Luis said. “After that we’re playing catch-up. We have to get through the first and second inning. That’s been our problem the last three games. The first inning, we’re just not ready for it.”
Christian Ploumbidis (1-for-4) singled to lead the top of the second and swiped second base. Ingemi advanced Ploumbidis to third on a fielder’s choice and Ploumbidis scored on Tasney’s suicide-squeeze bunt.
“We’ve bunted more this year than we have in the last 10 years combined,” Bettencourt said. “We’ve played a lot of small ball. The kids are buying into it. They’re making it their own.”
It stayed at 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Saugus cashed in on Peabody’s errors. Anthony Cogliano laced a 2-out single and Ryan Beliveau reached on an error. Nathan Ing ripped a sharply-hit ground ball that was botched, scoring Cogliano with Saugus’ lone run.
Peabody put it away with Mark DeLuca’s (1-for-2, RBI) sac-fly and Dom Lewis’ (2-for-4, RBI) RBI single in the top of the seventh.
“It would’ve been nice to go into that last inning down 3-1,” Luis said. “There would’ve been an opportunity there. Once they tacked on those insurance runs, they brought in Campbell and he’s their No. 1.”
Peabody hosts Everett Friday (4).
Saugus (12-5) welcomes Triton Thursday (4:15) in a non-conference tilt.