Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, May 10, 2019 Sachems closing in on tourney berth By Greg Phipps D espite experiencing a bump in the road at Peabody last week, the Saugus High School baseball team appears well on its way to qualifying for a postseason spot and challenging for the Northeastern Conference crown. A 5-4 home win over Winthrop on Tuesday lifted the Sachems to 8-2 on the season with conference tilts against Gloucester and Danvers set for later this week. Pitcher Jason Casaletto hurled 6 2/3 innings to earn the win on Tuesday while Skylar Smith produced an impressive complete-game performance in Monday’s 9-2 road win over Lynn Classical. Ironically, the team’s only recent hiccup came with ace Todd Tringale on the mound last Wednesday, May 1, at Peabody. In that contest, the Sachems tallied twice early but couldn’t preserve the 2-0 lead in the end, eventually losing, 3-2, on a walk off hit. Peabody starter Derek DiLisi allowed just five hits, and the Sachems couldn’t do any damage off him after putting two early tallies on the board. At the same time, Tringale was his usual stingy self, allowing just one run through six innings and heading into the final frame with a 2-1 lead. He came within one out of claiming the vicSaugus first baseman CJ Graffeo reaches down in an attempt to pick off a Peabody baserunner in last Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at Bezemes Diamond in Peabody. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) tory before giving up a tworun single that earned Peabody the dramatic win. The Sachems responded well to the tough Peabody loss by erupting for nine runs in Monday’s win at Lynn Classical. Two hits and two RBI from Grant Rust and two hits and three RBI by Zack Falasca led the way. Smith helped himself by driving in two, and Anthony Cogliano and Ronnie Paolo each singled and drove in one. On the mound, Smith allowed just five hits. A six-run fourth inning proved to be the turning point for the Sachems. “That’s definitely the best [offensive] inning we’ve had all year. We’ve had a tough time finding and scoring runs but we strung together three or four hits,” head coach Joe Luis told the press after the game. In Tuesday’s win over Winthrop, the Sachems relinquished an early 3-0 lead and fell behind, 4-3, in the fourth. Paolo tied it with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, and Cogliano gave Saugus the lead for good by stroking a run-scoring single in the sixth. Paolo had two RBI with two Zack Falasca shows the strain while legging out a double – one of his two hits in last week’s game at Peabody. hits, and Jack Devereaux and Rust each drove in runs. Casaletto had two hits to go with his pitching line of four runs allowed on four hits and six strikeouts. Tringale, who manned the catcher position, filling in for regular back stopper Jackson Stanton on Tuesday, relieved Casaletto to get the final out and preserve the win. Todd Tringale had another strong outing but ended up on the short end of the result in last week’s loss at Peabody.
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