Marauders Trailing in Suspended Brendan Grant Final

The Belmont High School baseball team is losing 10-1 to Lynnfield with play suspended in the fifth inning of the Brendan Grant Memorial Tournament championship game.

However, Belmont, playing as the away team, does have the bases loaded with no outs and second baseman Michael Vona at the plate.

The umpires called the game Saturday due to lightning before Vona saw a pitch. The game is scheduled to be resumed on Sunday, May 30, at 1 p.m.

Regular season rules dictate that the game would restart. However, the coaches agreed to follow tournament procedure, which has the game resume at the point it was suspended.

"It seemed like the fair thing to do," said Belmont coach Jim Brown.

He added that both teams have already qualified for the state tournament, which begins Thursday, and, therefore, wanted to keep their pitchers fresh.

Sporting their alternative blue uniforms and  having cut their hair into mohawks, the Marauders (12-7) loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with first baseman Cory Stratford reaching on an error and outfielders Jon Siracusa and Charles Ferraro getting back-to-back hits.

The team scored in the third inning, when Lynnfield pitcher Dante Padovani balked-in Ferraro, who walked earlier in the inning and advanced to third base on a Vona hit.

Lynnfield, of the Cape Ann League, broke the game open in the bottom of the first, scoring nine runs in the inning.

With two outs and only two runs already in, it appeared Ferraro, playing center field, gunned down a Lynnfield runner at home plate. However, the umpire called him safe, allowing the run to score and prolonging the inning.

Pitcher Collin McNamara started for Belmont, and, despite the score, only gave up three earned runs before the stoppage.

Catcher Matt Brown has two hits through four innings of play.

Brown got his first win of the season, when Belmont beat Winchester, 6-5, in the opening round of the tournament on Friday. Brown relieved Evan Nichols, who had seven strikeouts in six innings of work.

The Marauders won in dramatic fashion with the game tied 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning. McNamara hit a lead-off single, stole a base and then scored on a walk-off single by sophomore John Dillon. McNamara tallied three runs and stole four bases in the game.

Lynnfield beat Austin Prep, 13-3, on Friday. Winchester then beat Austin Prep, 12-4, in the consolation game Saturday morning.