Team Effort Puts 'A-Team' Ahead of Woburn

It may not always show the punch of Mr. T and his famous "A-Team," but in the third game of the season, Brookline's "A Division" Lou Tompkins All Star team flexed some serious offensive muscle.

The Bandits — which the teams has started to call themselves — pumped out 11 hits in a 15-3 five-inning victory over Woburn on Thursday at Leland Park.

"We are capable of it," manager John Bucci said of the offensive attack. "We don't do it every day … I think our pitching and our defense is the best part of our team, and the offense scores enough to win. This is a little unusual."

What made it even more unusual was that almost every member of the team combined in on the attack — whether it was the starters or the bench.

Bucci's starters got the ball rolling with nine runs in the first three innings of play. Brookline loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second and Avery Grill snuck a grounder past the second baseman for two runs. Aidan Connolly followed that up with a two-run single that hugged the inside of the line.

In the top of the third, Adam Blumberg knocked home two with a triple and Scott Cordner brought Blumberg home with a sacrifice fly to right.

Bucci then went to the bench, which filled in rather nicely. After seeing its lead cut to 9-3, Brookline's backups struck for six runs in the top of the fifth inning. Connolly knocked in his third and fourth runs with a double and Alex Moses-Gardner brought him around with a single up the middle.

Brookline then put men on second and third with two outs and Nicholai Hansen kept the inning rolling with a triple just under the glove of the diving centerfielder. Campbell Narron ended the scoring with a RBI double.

"You always want to try and get everybody in the game," said Bucci. "It's tough when you have a tight game and you can't get everybody in. It's sort of a thing that bothers me. But a day like today is great, because you get to play everyone."

Blumberg was strong in his five innings of work on the mound for Brookline. He did a good job of the keeping the ball on the ground to allow his infield defense to flash their collective leather — especially with Eric Dumas turning double plays at short.

The tall right-hander hit a snag in the bottom of the third as he surrendered three runs, but a quick mound visit got things turned around.

"He went to a slide step, which affected his control," Bucci said. "I went out there and told him to 'give me a good leg kick and stop worrying so much about the runner and just throw strikes.' He seemed to settle down."

Brookline now sits at 3-0 on the season.