Tewksbury Digs A Hole Too Deep, Falls to Peabody

As his team packed up its equipment after Friday afternoon's frustrating 9-6 loss to Peabody High School, struggled to hold back his emotions.

Drouin had just watched his team spot the visting Tanners a seven-run first inning lead, then claw its way back into the game, eventually closing to within one run in the sixth inning, only to fall short and suffer its ninth loss of the season.

"It was a good baseball game to watch and I'm proud of how far we fought our way back, and all the feel good stories feel good," Drouin said. "But the bottom line is, if you're gonna climb the mountain, stick the flag in. And I'm sick of climbing the mountain and getting to the top and not putting the flag in."

The loss could end up being a costly one for Tewksbury, which had eight wins through its first 16 games and needed to win at least two of its last four to earn an invitation to the MIAA Division 2 post-season tournament. But Peabody ruined by banging out seven first inning hits and scoring seven runs before the Redmen recorded even a single out.

Sophomore pitcher Allyn Hood came on in relief of White and snuffed out the Tanner’s fire, throwing six-plus innings of extremely strong baseball in his varsity pitching debut.

Hood got out of the first inning jam after facing only three batters, and allowed no runs and just three Peabody hits over the next six innings before tiring and walking the first two batters in the Tanner seventh.

“Allyn Hood was great,” Drouin said. “For his first varsity (appearance), he was great. He’s the sole reason we were still in there fighting in the seventh.”

Tewksbuy had other near-heroes as well, not the least of whom was , who smashed a monster double to left center field in the sixth inning, knocking in a run to cut the Tewksbury deficit to two at the time. Senior center fielder Chris Andella folowed with an RBI double to bring home Rauseo and cut Peabody’s lead to one, with only one out in the inning.

But the Redmen stranded Andella at third, and Peabody responded with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Senior third baseman Sean McCarthy did his part, too, doubling in two runs in the third inning. Senior catcher Rob Wallace had an RBI single and gunned down a runner at second, and junior shortstop Eric Heider had a hit and scored a run. Sophomore right fielder Matt Skotz collected two hits and scored a run in his first varsity start, and senior first baseman Matt Luppi doubled and scored  a run.

“There was a lot of good stuff out there today but there were a lot of mistakes, too," Drouin said. “We had the tying run on base, we had the lead run at the plate numerous times and we just couldn‘t stick that one hit to get us over the top and get us the lead.”

Tewksbury had two runners get picked off during the game, and stranded six. The Redmen left runners in scoring position in the third, fifth and sixth innings.

Tewksbury must now win two of its final three games to qualify for the state tournament. Those three games are at Wilmington on Sunday, at Austin Prep on Monday and at home against Dracut on Tuesday.

The good news is that thanks to Hood's unexpected six inning stint, and White's early exit, Tewksbury's pitching rotation is well-situated for the three-day run.

Luppi, the team's ace, will start against Wilmington on Sunday. McCarthy, who pitched to just one batter in relief on Friday, will start at Austin Prep on Monday. White, who threw only 30 pitches on Friday, should be ready to come back Tuesday against Dracut.

"There's no question that Allyn Hood did us a favor today," Drouin said. "He was a valuable, valuable guy."

Drouin hopes his team's bats can be as valuable down the stretch, and get the Redmen the two wins they need.

"We just have to get by the breakdowns," Drouin said. "I've seen the movie. I know the ending. We've got to get someone to step up and change it."

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