LYNN — Knowing his team needed a big pitching performance from Danny Lancaster in this win-or-go-home contest, Peabody West manager Mike McMahon asked the righty if he was nervous.
Not at all, the youngster told his manager.
Lancaster then went out and proved it, holding Lynnfield to just four hits and one unearned run over 4 2/3 innings as Peabody West advanced to the District 16 Little League Williamsport all-star title game thanks to a 12-6 victory at Pine Hill.
With staff aces Joey Ryan and Ben Wenzel unavailable because of pitch counts in previous games, Lancaster stepped up and induced seven ground ball outs while striking out three before being relieved by Jed Sencabaugh for the final five outs.
“We knew it’d be Danny’s game today,” said McMahon, whose team now advances to the District 16 title game against unbeaten Swampscott Thursday at Forest River Park in Salem (5:45 p.m.). West, in the final for the fourth straight year (they’ve won six of the last dozen District pennants), would need to defeat Swampscott twice to capture this year’s crown.
“I asked him before the game if he felt nervous, and Danny said, ‘No, I pitched in a championship game in travel ball for the Vikings’, so I said ‘There you go. Nothing to worry about then.’
“He doesn’t feel any pressure.”
Peabody West, which finished with 14 hits, did the bulk of its damage offensively in the top of the third inning, when they scored five runs to take a 7-1 lead; and again in the sixth, when they plated five more runs. Lynnfield scored five of its own in the bottom of the frame to make it interesting, but their last-gasp rally ultimately fell short.
Sencabaugh led the offense by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Paulie Capruso drove in a pair of runs, while catcher Owen McMahon (2 runs scored) and Lancaster both had two hits and knocked a teammate home.
Ryan and Wenzel both added RBI for the winners, with leadoff man Riley Gravelese and Austin Lohnes (2 runs scored), the 12th and final batter in the lineup, adding two hits apiece.
Defensively, shortstop Collin Flynn made a terrific play to get the first out in the bottom of the first, ranging to his left to stab a hot shot before firing to first baseman Justin Deveraux for the out.
“The last two years, I’ve felt the best defensive team (in District 16) ends up winning it,” said McMahon, whose team has been practicing since June 10. “They’ve worked hard at it, and it’s come a long, long way.”
Peabody West, which has won four of its five games while outscoring their foes by a combined 34-19, will meet Swampscott in the final for the second straight year; McMahon said that Ryan will get the nod on the mound Thursday night.
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