Regardless of what unfolded in Wednesday evening’s District 15 pool play clash between Gloucester and Boxford, both Little League all-star squads were going to be headed to the championship weekend.
But someone still had to win, and Boxford was able to do that resoundingly in the battle of unbeatens.
Facing off at Manchester’s Sweeney Park, head coach Paul DeLeo’s bunch jumped out to an early two-run lead after one, tacked on another run in the third, and sent six across in the final two innings to cruise to a 10-4 victory.
Gloucester didn’t quit, plating three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the lofty deficit.
“It’s always nice to have the No. 1 seed (going into the District championship round), and the boys are playing very well,” said DeLeo, his team now 4-0. “The guys swung the bats; we didn’t face their best, but they still threw out a couple of kids there that could throw the ball and we did what we had to do.”
For Gloucester, which held ace pitcher Will Emerson out to save him for the weekend, it all came down to defense. Braydon Simon, Remy Jerome, Max Curcuru and 9-year-old Massimo Numerosi all saw time on the mound and each had their moments.
But Boxford consistently put the ball in play and capitalized on the basepaths to seize control of the action.
“I thought our pitching was fine. They had a couple bleeders, the blooped a couple balls in too and there were a couple bad bounces,” said Gloucester manager Brendan Fullerton. “But defense has been our Achilles heel and I think we learned that we have to get better in that respect.”
Boxford registered 14 hits on the night and drew six walks in addition to a hit by pitch. It all started in the top of the first, as Hudson Maher (RBI), Harry Stevens and Bennett Taeger each slapped singles before Henry Carrieri drove in another run with his first of two sacrifice flies.
The Fishermen got one back in the bottom of the frame when Colton Currier connected for an RBI single to right after both Jerome and Emerson had earned base knocks of their own. Max Curcuru nearly gave Gloucester the lead in the next at bat, but his deep fly ball to center was hauled in right on the warning track.
From there, it was all Boxford.
“I thought we hit the ball well in the early innings, hit a couple line drives right at guys, had the bases loaded, and Max (Curcuru) flew out to the fence,” said Fullerton. “But we have to do a better job of getting some runs across.
“I’m not disappointed with them … maybe they were looking towards Saturday which is normal,” added the coach. “But I told them to forget about today’s game and get ready to go on Saturday.”
Although Gloucester had its share of strong at bats, recording eight total hits, Boxford pitcher Nathan Hirsch did a nice job to work out of some jams and finished with a quality start.
He went four innings, allowing five hits, one run and striking out two to earn the win.
“Nate mixed up his pitches great, hit his spots well … he was excellent,” said DeLeo.
The visitors put the game out of reach in the fifth by scoring four times. Hudson Maher had an RBI single to left and Taeger followed suit with an RBI double. The other two runs came via a pair of Gloucester errors.
Boxford would add two more in the sixth on an RBI single from Stevens and an RBI double from Maher. Gloucester then made it somewhat interesting in the bottom of the stanza, refusing to go down without a fight by scoring the final three runs of the game before a ground out sealed the deal.
Jerome and Currier each finished with two hits for the Fishermen while Emerson had one to go with a pair of walks, one of which came via the intentional variety. For Boxford, Stevens and Maher led the way three hits apiece.
The two teams will face off again this weekend, with Danvers National and Middleton joining them in the four-team, double elimination finals round.
“We didn’t die in the last inning which I thought was good,” said Fullerton.
“We could’ve just rolled over, got three outs and got out of here but they showed some fight and took some good at bats. So that’s a positive heading into Saturday for sure.”
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.