Sports
Baseball Finishes Third in the State
The 12-year-old baseball team was knocked out of the EMass Cal Ripken Tournament Saturday. They lost 6-5 against Burlington in extra inning.
With two outs against visitor Burlington in the sixth inning, the Chelmsford 12-year-old baseball team was up 5-0. The team was so close to winning the game, but they weren’t able to pull off that last out before Burlington knocked two home runs out of the park, scoring five runs.
The game went into a seventh inning, and in a very close play, Burlington slid home safely to score a sixth run. Chelmsford, in a heartbreaking loss, was unable to respond, thus the game ended with Burlington advancing to the state finals of the Cal Ripken tournament against Raynham.
“To be up five runs and have Burlington come back and score five runs is disappointing, but the kids battled to the end,” said Head Coach Levesque.
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The first several innings were uneventful, as neither Chelmsford nor Burlington made any big moves. Josh Roberge was hit in the head in the second inning, and managed to steal second, while Patrick MacDonald also walked. In the fourth inning, Chelmsford came close to scoring, but a Burlington outfielder dove to just barely catch Steven Sweeney’s powerful hit to right field in an exciting play.
Chelmsford started moving in the fifth inning, when Nick Bartleman walked to first, and stole to third. Devan Filicano also walked, and Matt Vignola sealed the deal with a two run double that hit the fence in centerfield. Sweeney followed suit by knocking a single into right field, and Mitchell Smith’s triple carried him home. John Barry knocked out a single, allowing Smith to score a run and wrap up the inning.
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Burlington had two outs against them in the sixth inning, but two homeruns enabled them to stay in the game. Smith played well defensively, tagging two opponents out at second base.
Andrew Thayer pitched the last inning, and struck out two players. Joey Lefebvre made a great catch in center field as well. Chelmsford’s efforts just didn’t pay off, as Burlington stole home plate for the winning run.
“The kids should be proud; it’s quite an accomplishment to be third in the state. I’m very very proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves,” said Levesque.
