RallyNorth.net

Lancers demolish Peabody

Monday, June, 06 By Hector Longo

PEABODY — Peabody High coach Mark Bettencourt tipped his cap to Lawrence High yesterday.

"That's a spirited team, they hit the baseball hard. If you look at their lineup, I think 1-to-9,everyone had a hit," he said.

Bettencourt actually sold the Lancers a bit short at Bezemes Field.

Sure, all nine starters had a hit, but each of the top eight actually had at least two as Lawrence finished with 20 in a 14-4 Division 1 North quarterfinal pounding of the host Tanners.

The fifth-seeded Lancers now set their sights on trying to nail down a second straight North championship game appearance. To do that, they'll need to knock off giant-killer Acton-Boxboro — a 9-6 winner over top-seeded Lexington yesterday — Friday night (7 p.m.) at Lowell's Alumni Field in the semis.

Senior Vic Mendez, who slammed the door on the Tanners with a save in the North quarters a year ago, went seven steong innings yesterday, striking out eight and walking three in seven innings of four-hit ball.

"I don't think we've hit the ball as a team like that all year," said the right-hander, who moves to 8-1 on the season with plenty of help from his friends. "Whether it's tied, one run or whatever, I'm relaxed pitching, but all the runs were nice."

Bettencourt, who was forced to use a pair of pitchers in the Tanners' 13-inning playoff opener, sent three different arms to the hill yesterday to no avail.

“They hits some shots to gaps, and when they didn’t they were finding holes. We were ghting back there, but they never let up,” said Bettencourt. “You end up just treading water. They piled on the runs, just like a good team should.”

Lawrence put two on the board in the first with Mendez and David Quezada providing the RBI hits and two more in the second when Ricardo Matos doubled, Anthony Rodriguez chased him home with a double and Darwin Brito lofted a sacrifice fly.

But the third proved fateful for Peabody.

Mendez doubled, scoring on another Quezada RBI hit. Junior Hector Perez followed with a bomb that dented the scoreboard in right, a two-run shot to chase starter and loser Nick Allen.

Mendez, Quezada and Perez (4 RBIs) all had three hits, while both Britos, Darwin and Edwin, Jose Cedano, Matos and A-Rod all had a pair.

Lawrence moves to 17-5 with the win and sends senior Yunior Vasquez to the hill Friday night. The Colonials will most likely counter with junior ace Ryan McDonald, who blanked MVC large champ Lowell, 3-0, in their opener last week.

The Lancers hope to bolster their lineup with a return of all-conference center-fielder Juan Ventura to their lineup. The senior was dressed but did not play yesterday.

"He violated team rules and learned a valuable lesson," said Lancer coach Brendan Neilon. "Thank God we won."