Sports
Two Teams Out of Cal Ripken Tournaments
The 10- and 12-year-old teams have been eliminated from their all-star baseball tournaments.
The 10-year-old Cal Ripken All-Star team was fighting from behind from the opening game of their tournament at Simonds Park in Burlington, losing a tough 12-2 game against Revere on Wednesday.
Showing resilience, the team rebounded and won their first consolation round game against Bedford, winning 13-5 on Thursday. Their tournament hopes were soon ended, though, when they lost another mismatched game against a strong Arlington American team 12-2 on Saturday.
The Marblehead 12-year-old team started out on the right foot, earning a hard-fought 11-10 win over Arlington American on Thursday. However, the outcomes of their next two games were less than desirable.
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Facing off against Burlington in their second game, on Thursday, the 12-year-old boys found themselves behind from the beginning, in a 10-0 loss that ended in the fifth inning under the "10-run Mercy" rule.
The team came out much stronger in their Sunday game against Winchester, scoring four runs in the first inning while batting through their order.
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Danny Gienieczko led off with a double for the local boys and was quickly moved around the bases by a Pete Morrison single and Beau Dana sacrifice fly. Singles from Payton Jancsy, Garret Keough, Owen Feehley, a double from Gabe Rowe and a single from Ian Cammett produced the 4-0 lead.
The defense proved to be just as solid as the offense in the bottom of the first, as Garret Keough pitched well and James Allan made an exciting diving catch in the outfield to keep Winchester scoreless.
After a quiet second inning at the plate for Marblehead, walks plagued Keough, but his teammates supported him by making plays in the field, holding their opponents to only one run.
Winchester was able to retire Keough and Feehley quickly in the third, but Gabe Rowe added to his team's lead by hitting a solo home run. Winchester shortened the gap slightly during their at bat, scoring one run, making the score 5-2.
In the fourth, James Allan followed Rowe's third inning solo-shot with a lead-off home run of his own, but the Winchester team responded by getting the next three batters out and gaining another run in the bottom of the inning bringing the game to 6-3.
Marblehead was unable to reach base in the fifth, going down 1-2-3 because of good defense from the Winchester team. In the bottom of the inning, Winchester rallied and was able to even the score at 6-6 by hitting two homeruns.
In the top of the sixth inning, Marblehead was able to gain the lead as Gienieczko scored once again. After he walked, back-to-back doubles by Morrison and Dana brought the score to 7-6. The one run was not enough to produce a win for the locals though, as Winchester's Pat Foley's three-run home run ended Marblehead's tournament with a 9-7 loss.
After the game, Coach Jeff Morrison lauded the play of his team, saying, "The kids battled hard today and they played with a lot of heart, which we were looking for; it was a tough loss."
