Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, May 24, 2019 Baseball: Sachems pull off comeback win over Beverly Shortstop Ronnie Paolo reaches over too late to tag out a Beverly baserunner in the early innings of Tuesday’s 11-9 comeback win. By Greg Phipps arning a higher playoff seeding and fi nishing strong have been goals for the Saugus High School baseball team entering the fi nal stretch of the regular season. Those objectives were both missed and met early this week, as the Sachems suff ered a 14-3 rout on Monday at the hands of the Swampscott Big Blue before rallying from a substantial defi cit to edge Beverly, 11-9, on Tuesday at home. It didn’t look good for the Sachems through the fi rst three innings of Tuesday’s contest, and it appeared they may lose two straight for the first time this season. A couple of questionable umpire calls and stranded baserunners contributed to the Sachems trailing 6-2 after two frames and 9-4 entering the bottom of the fourth. That’s when the Saugus offense awoke with a burst, scorE Saugus starter Skyler Smith unleashes a pitch in the fi rst inning of Tuesday’s home game against Beverly. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) Skyler Smith reaches down for the late throw home from fi rst baseman CJ Graff eo against Beverly on Tuesday. ing six runs with the aid of seven hits to take a 10-9 lead it would not relinquish. Freshman reliever Nathan Ing came through with fl ying colors in his varsity debut, pitching two solid innings to earn the win. Ace Todd Tringale worked the fi nal two frames for the save. He fanned fi ve hitters. Saugus starter Skyler Smith didn’t have his best stuff and got hit hard. He lasted three innings before he was replaced. Off ensively, the Sachems were led by Ronnie Paolo with three hits, and Zack Falasca and Ryan Beliveau with two each. The Beverly comeback was also a little out of character for the Sachems and the approach they’ve regularly taken on their way to a 12-4 record after Tuesday’s game. Their first victory over Beverly back in April was a close 3-1 fi nal, more in keeping with how Saugus has earned a lot of its wins. Following the 11-run loss at Swampscott on Monday, Saugus head coach Joe Luis told the press his team is most successful when its pitching and defense are operating at full efficiency The 14 runs given up on Monday were too much for his team to overcome; Luis acknowledged the Sachems aren’t going to outslug opponents too often. “Hopefully, we can come back out Tuesday and execute with pitching and defense,” said Luis after the Swampscott contest. The Sachems didn’t exactly succeed on that count on Tuesday but showed fi ght and the ability to battle back from a defi cit, something they haven’t had to do very often this spring. In the Swampscott defeat, Jack Devereaux socked three hits and CJ Graff eo added an RBI single. The Sachems had chances to score runs but couldn’t produce timely hits.
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