Despite holding onto a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, the No. 5 Swampscott Sox couldn’t finish things off and fell to the No. 3 Kingston Night Owls, 5-4, in extra innings in Game 3 of the North Shore Baseball League semifinals Monday night. The Night Owls rallied to tie the score in the seventh before walking it off in the eighth.
With the loss, Swampscott now trails in the best-of-five series 2-1.
Esteban Paula led the offensive attack for Swampscott in the loss, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Clemente Parra (1-for-3) added one RBI, while Jomar Moreta (1-for-3), Louis Olivieri (1-for-3), Wilber Rosario (1-for-2) and Junior Santos (1-for-4) added hits for the Sox.
Tyler Marshall took the loss after coming in in extra innings and allowing the winning run. Corey Bleau earned the start on the mound and pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts.
Kingston was led by RBI from Rob Wirtanen (2-for-3), Andrew Thibault (1-for-3) and Garret Roberts (1-for-3). Kyle O’Neill (3-for-4), Christian Allaire (3-for-4) and Nick Comei (2-for-4) all had multi-hit games in the victory, while Noah Lucier (1-for-3), Tyler Johnson (1-for-3) and Zach Miles (1-for-1) also added hits.
On the mound, it was Roberts who earned the win in relief after tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing no runs on just one hit with seven strikeouts. Roberts came in to relieve starter Andrew Hamel, who pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits with six walks and three strikeouts.
Swampscott will try to stave off elimination in Game 4 Wednesday evening (6:30) at Swampscott Middle School.