WINCHESTER — The Lynn 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team didn’t let a rain delay affect its energy Sunday, dominating Winchester in a 15-0 mercy-rule win at Skillings Field.
“This team works hard,” Lynn manager Rich Avery said. “As a whole these kids have a lot of energy, so I guess it was kind of easy during the rain delay to just keep the energy up and be ready to play once it started again.”
Levy DaSilva pitched five dominant innings for Lynn, allowing just three hits and six walks while striking out five.
“(Levy) is a great kid,” Avery said. “He’s a great competitor. That’s his second start so far. He throws strikes all day. He has four different pitches he can throw strikes with. It makes it easy when he’s on the mound to call the game.”
DaSilva (1-for-2, two walks) helped his own cause at the plate, scoring three runs and knocking in one. Nevin Gonzalez (4-for-4, RBI) and Armani Gerardo (1-for-3, walk, RBI) each scored three runs. Mornel Castro, Steve Pedro, Ben Marciano and Juneil Guzman each had one RBI.
Lynn took advantage of several Winchester mistakes, including scoring seven runs via passed balls. Lynn’s defense made plays all over the field to make things easier on DaSilva.
“The defense has been important for us,” Avery said. “We’ve been putting kids in different spots throughout the first four games. We’re just trying to see what our best lineup is going forward. They’ve really stepped up. Everyone who has been in the lineup for us has stepped up.”
Darnell Leon and DaSilva eached walked to start things off for Lynn. After a single from Gonzalez, Winchester threw a run out at the plate but it didn’t take long for Lynn to bounce back. A fly ball off the bat of Gerardo fell and plate DaSilva. A passed ball and an error brought home two more runs before Castro laced an RBI-single to give Lynn an early 4-0 lead.
DaSilva walked three in the second inning but Guzman threw a runner out from behind the plate and DaSilva made a quick play on a line drive up the middle to get out of the jam.
After a brief delay for lightning the Lynn bats got back to work in the third. A single from Gonzalez and an error put runners in scoring position. Pedro and Marciano laced back-to-back RBI singles and a passed ball scored another run to give Lynn a 7-0 lead. Another passed ball scored Marciano later in the inning to stretch the lead to 8-0.
The fourth inning was more of the same. Guzman plated a run on a ground out and three more passed balls turned into runs for Lynn and stretched the lead to 12-0.
Another passed ball plated Gabe Diaz in the fifth and DaSilva and Gonzalez each tacked on another RBI single to round out the scoring for Lynn.
With the shutout win Lynn (4-0) locked up the No. 1 seed going into single-elimination play and will host a game Tuesday (TBA).