Wyoma Baseball One Better Than Peabody American

Herbie Newton smacked a ball off the center-field fence with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, driving in Brendan Powicki from third, giving Wyoma a 2-1 win over Peabody American in the District 16 All-Star baseball tournament.

Pitching, pitching and more pitching were the big stories Saturday. Peabody American’s Alex Gomes pitched six full innings, striking out 11 and giving up only four hits, taking the loss.

Wyoma used two pitchers, Andrew Moccia and Kyle Autillio, who held Peabody American in check until Wyoma pushed a run across in the top of the sixth.

Peabody’s Ryan Newbury hit a one-out single to right field in the top of the sixth, with his team trailing by one. Kyle Hentosh followed with a high pop to short center that fell in, but Newbury was forced out at second.

Frank Celona hit a ground ball to third and Hentosh came all the way around to tie the game when the third baseman’s throw caromed into right field. Moccia retired Gomes to end the inning, but Peabody American had tied the game after having only one base runner — a Hentosh single in the fourth — over the first five innings.

Wyoma scored its first run off Gomes in the bottom of the second on two walks and a couple of errors. Gomes tried to pick Matt Lauria off first, with Autillio on second. Lauria tied up the Peabody American infield in a rundown between first and second base. Lauria made it safely into second and Autillio raced all the way home while the focus was on Lauria. Wyoma was on top without the benefit of a base hit.

Gomes was outstanding on the mound for Peabody American, striking out three in the bottom of the second and the bottom of the fifth. Wyoma hit four singles off Gomes in six full innings of work.

“We’re getting good pitching, Alex was great today,” Peabody American manager Don Shaw said after the game. “Our defense has been good, our pitching’s been good, we’ve really just got to get the bats going.”

The loss was Peabody American’s first in the tournament; the team was 3-0 heading into Saturday night’s game, beating , and Winthrop.

With the win, Wyoma improved to 5-0, rolling past West Lynn American, Saugus American, and Lynnfield before squeezing out a win Saturday night over Peabody American.

Peabody American will play Tuesday night, with its opponent to be determined by Monday night’s game in Saugus. Peabody West will square off against East Lynn, with the winner of that game taking on Peabody American.

Wyoma is off until Thursday night.

“Great game by Alex on the mound, really, you can’t ask for more than that, one hit over the first five innings,” Shaw said. “We’ll learn from this one, put it behind us and get ready for the next one, and I’m confident we’ll bounce right back.”

Joining Shaw this playoff season are coaches Paulie DiMarino and Frank Celona, Sr.