Following an abbreviated season this summer, the North Shore Baseball League is now in the throws of its playoffs. The four playoff series, which are best-of-three series, kicked off Tuesday evening.
The first matchup of the night was between the No. 2 Rowley Nor’Easters and the No. 7 Manchester Marlins, which the Nor’Easters won by a score of 10-9. Rowley was led by Logan Burrell (3-for-4) and Max Lamora (2-for-4), who each had two RBI in the win.
The series continued Wednesday night at O’Maley Middle School in Gloucester, with Rowley looking to close out the series.
The No. 8 Peabody Champions, the last team to make it into the playoffs, knocked off the No. 1 Northeast Tides at Twi Field in Danvers to take a 1-0 series lead. Dave Ruggiero went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI for the Champions, while Mike Giardi went 1-for-3 with one RBI. John Doyle earned the win on the mound for Peabody, tossing four innings and allowing just one hit while striking out 10.
The Champions were looking to close out the Tides on Tuesday night at Haverhill Stadium when the two teams met for Game 2.
The next matchup on the night was the No. 5 Swampscott Sox against the No. 4 Beverly Recs. Behind a complete-game shutout from Swampscott pitcher Ben Kendrew, the Sox earned a 3-0 win to go up by one game in the series. Lou Olivieri (2-for-4), Esteban Paula (1-for-2) and Clemente Parra (1-for-3) each had one RBI in the victory.
The series continued Wednesday evening at Forest Ave Park, with the Sox looking to close out the series.
The final matchup on the first day of the playoffs saw the No. 3 Kingston Night Owls blank the No. 6 North Shore Storm 9-0. Andrew Thibault (2-for-4) led the way for Kingston with three RBI, while Tyler Johnson (1-for-2) and Nick Comei (2-for-3) each had two RBI and Michael Pierro (1-for-3) had one RBI.
The series continued Wednesday night for Game 2.