Behind a thrilling four-run outburst in the top of the ninth inning, the No. 8 Peabody Champions knocked off the No. 1 Northeast Tides by a score of 4-0 to move on to the semifinal round of the North Shore Baseball League playoffs. The Champions now move on to face the No. 2 Rowley Nor’Easters — who swept the Manchester Marlins in the first round — in a best-of-five series beginning Saturday.
Peabody’s pitchers held the Nor’Easters scoreless for the entire game starting with starting pitcher Peter O’Connell, who tossed four innings and allowed just two hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. Mike Gallo came in and pitched three no-hit innings in relief before Colin Nye earned the win. Nye pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits with two strikeouts.
Peabody’s offense was paced by Mike Giardi’s (1-for-2) RBI double and an RBI single from Derek Lyons. Chad Martin (1-for-4), Jon Cahill (1-for-5) and Marc Crovo (1-for-1) also added hits in the victory.
For Rowley, Jonathan Dube (2-for-4), Drew Healey (1-for-2) and Bryan Woolley (1-for-3) had the lone hits. Pitcher Matt Bergeron nearly went the distance on the mound in the loss, tossing 8 1/3 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with six strikeouts. Bobby Cliche finished the last 2/3 of the inning, allowing one run on one hit.
Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinal series between the Champions and the Nor’Easters kicks off Saturday evening (5:30) at Eiras Park in Rowley.
Also moving on to the semifinal round is the No. 5 Swampscott Sox, who earned a hard-fought 2-1 win over the No. 4 Beverly Recs to take the series 2-1.
Louis Olivieri (1-for-3) and Elvis Rodriguez (1-for-3) each had one RBI in the victory, while Jomar Moreta (1-for-4) and Joe Kasper (1-for-3) also added hits.
Tyler Marshall earned the win on the mound after tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts. Ben Kendrew, who pitched a complete game on Tuesday, came in and earned the save. Kendrew threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
The lone RBI for Beverly came from Andrew Olszak, who went 3-for-3 in the loss. Dillon Gonzalez (2-for-3), Dan Mello (1-for-4) and Ben Brungardt (1-for-1) added hits.
Brandon Bingel took the loss on the mound despite a valiant effort, tossing six innings and allowing two runs on five hits with 11 strikeouts.
Swampscott will now move on to the semifinal round and take on the No. 3 Kingston Night Owls, with Game 1 coming Saturday night (8) at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill.