DANVERS — The conditions were raw and so was the talent on display in Wednesday’s Northeastern Conference baseball battle between host Danvers High and Peabody.
The Falcons came in with a bit more experience and that edge probably won the day in a 7-4 triumph in cold and rainy conditions at Twi Field.
Walks were the main difference between the rivals over these seven innings. The Tanners (0-1) issued eight and also hit a batter while Danvers ace Beckett Wodarski walked just one in a complete game victory.
“I’d say both pitchers struggled with the mound to start. This is the first time we’ve been on Twi this spring. We weren’t expecting conditions like this and the footing wasn’t great,” Danvers head coach Matt Mello said.
“Beckett found his groove in the middle innings, though, and when he had to step up and bear down in the late innings, he did.”
After spotting Peabody a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Wodarski posted five consecutive zero’s. The Danvers offense inflicted damage in each of the first five frames to go on top 7-2 with a Jason Walters triple in the second and a 2-run single by Jack Curcuru in the third building the lead.
“Between walks and errors, it was something like 12 of 13 free bases,” Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt said. “You’re not going to beat a good team like Danvers doing that.”
Curcuru used his blazing speed to produce runs, beating out an infield single and finishing the day 2-for-4 with two runs and four stolen bases.
“Jack’s a weapon,” Mello noted.
Walters also had a multi-hit day for the Falcons while Chase Richmond had a hit with an RBI, Colby Medeiros drove home a run and Jason scored twice. Danvers didn’t go down 1-2-3 in any of their six offensive innings and every hitter from the 5-through-8 slots scored a run. That was a welcome sign for a squad that has top-end talent and is looking to develop the bottom half of the batting order.
“If our bottom does what they did today all season, we’re going to be successful,” said Mello. “We played solid defense, too. In these conditions, you can’t ask for a much better game and effort.”
The Tanners didn’t roll over, scoring two in the sixth to get themselves back in the game. Sophomore Mark Bettencourt (who also pitched a scoreless inning) stroked a 2-run single over the first base bag to score Jordalis Sosa and Max Silvia (double).
Wodarski got out of the inning and worked around a Jack Smith leadoff single to close out the complete game with six strikeouts and just over 100 pitcher, however.
“Against what I think is one of the better pitchers in our leagues, I liked the way we swung the bats. We had a good offensive approach,” Bettencourt said. “The chip away mentality was there. We gave ourselves a shot.”
Sosa had an RBI double for Peabody in the first, scoring catcher Ethan Waybret, whose own RBI single plated Pedro Flores (1-for-4, stolen base). Ty Lomasney also had a hit, Jack Smith went 2-for-4 and Liam Smith threw two innings in relief of senior ace Silvia, who fanned three in three innings.
“We only have two full-time starters returning from last year, so I saw a lot of good things,” Bettencourt said. “I also saw a lot of things for us to clean up.”