RallyNorth.net

PEABODY | At the crack of the bat, it looked and sounded perfect.

With the Peabody High baseball team trailing by a run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning of yesterday's Division 1 North first round contest against  Newton North, Pat Yeo laced a torpedo towards left field that had the Tanners thinking walk-off win.

Mark Linehan tossed six scoreless innings to help the Tanners (14-5) take care of Revere, 7-0. Danny Mello and Tom Ciulla paced the offense as each was 2 for 3 with a pair of runs scored. Peaboody broke it open in the fourth on consecutive hits from James Noftle, Pat Yeo, Ciulla and Mark Finnochio.

Senior Kevin Skop tossed a complete game, two-hit shutout and fanned nine Bulldogs to pace Peabody (13-5) to a 2-0 win. The Tanners got all the offense they needed in the first inning with RBIs from James Noftle and Jared Shields. The middle infield defense of Gary Girolomo and Mark Finocchio, along with Skop's pitching, made the lead stand up.

PEABODY -- Pat Dumas is accustomed to getting saves for the Peabody High baseball team. Last night, the junior closer's performance could be characterized as more of a rescue.

Facing a five-game week, Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt knew his pitching staff needed time to regroup for the stretch run. Dumas' complete-game victory -- in his first varsity start -- was just what the Tanners were looking for.

SALEM | Now it's a race in the Northeastern Conference Large baseball standings.

For the second time this season, Salem knocked off neighboring rival Peabody by a run. This time, it was Beau Theriault's suicide squeeze that scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, leading to his team's 7-6 victory at the Salem State College baseball field.

When it comes to scheduling, there might not be a team that is more prepared for the state tournament than Peabody (10-4).

Every year it seems the playoffs require some teams to play on back-to-back days or as many as four times in a week. The Tanners, who'll be making their 14th straight playoff appearance, are in the midst of playing seven games in nine days to get ready for that very challenge.

PEABODY | Peabody's third baseman, Dan Mello, said it best.

"We can hit with any team in the conference," said Mello, and yesterday's final score, 19-3 over Winthrop, was a huge confirmation of his opinion.

At the halfway point of the spring season, the Gloucester High School baseball team is in desperate need of wins.

Unfortunately, Gloucester's schedule isn't doing it any favors, and neither are the recent powerhouse ballclubs that the Fishermen have been facing.

PEABODY | It is games like last night's 4-3 triumph over host Peabody that the Danvers High baseball team is starting to get accustomed to winning.

In a contest that could've gone either way at a chilly Donahue Field, the Falcons (6-2) benefitted from three seventh inning walks and watched Jeff Eldridge take a pitch off the shoulder to break a 3-3 tie and force home the winning run.

Imagine a world in which the New England Patriots never faced off against the Indianapolis Colts.

Or what if the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees never locked horns, or Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson didn't go head-to-head on a Sunday?