ANDOVER — The dream simply won’t die for the Boxford Little League all-stars.
Behind a tremendous pitching performance plus a home run blast by Jake DeLeo and some flawless defense, Boxford put away Lynnfield, 6-1, to win the Section 4 championship for the first time ever Saturday morning at Andover’s Deyermond Park.
“These kids are 12 years old, so you can’t expect perfection,” said Boxford manager Paul DeLeo, “but that was about as close to a perfectly played game as you’re going to get.”
The District 15 champions add the Section 4 pennant to their growing collection and now advance to the Massachusetts Final Four championship tournament. That’ll begin on Thursday in Holden with the eventual winner earning to right to play for a Little League World Series berth at the New England Regionals in Bristol, Conn., next month.
“I’m so proud of this team,” said DeLeo, whose team is 10-0 between district and sectional action. “It’s really beyond my wildest dreams.”
A hard-throwing righthander, Jake DeLeo pitched with confidence all morning and the Lynnfield batters had a hard-time catching up with his stuff. He needed 80 pitches to throw a complete game, striking out 10 and scattering three hits.
Incredibly, DeLeo was at his best late in the game and recorded the final six outs via the K. In the fifth, only a two out single by Lynnfield’s Ben O’Hara kept DeLeo from recording an immaculate inning — he struck out the other three batters on exactly nine pitches.
“When Jake is Jake, he’s pretty tough to beat,” said Paul DeLeo. “He settled in very nicely and it’s always nice to have that horse on the mound you know you can count on.”
The younger DeLeo struck out the side in the sixth as well (on 12 pitches). The only times he ran into any trouble, Boxford’s defense made sure the District 16 champs from Lynnfield couldn’t take advantage.
A leadoff walk in the third was erased when second baseman Bennet Taeger and shortstop Henry Pracht turned a picture perfect 4-6-4 double play. In the fourth, consecutive hits by Lynnfield’s Matty Cavallo and Luca Mandel led to a fielder’s choice RBI by Nico Madel as the Pioneers threatened.
DeLeo turned a hard hit grounder into a 1-6-3 double play to kill the rally, with Pracht once again making a nice turn and toss to first baseman Henry Carrieri.
“Pitching and defense win these games, no question,” Paul DeLeo said. “The kids work hard at it. We practice plays like that a lot, so they’re very well prepared.”
Boxford never trailed, easing their nerves by getting a run in the bottom of the first when DeLeo walked and came home on a bases loaded walk drawn by Carrieri. Lynnfield ace Nico Mandel allowed just one run in a bases loaded, no out situation and finished with two hits allowed and four strikeouts in his 3 1/3 innings.
One of those hits was a solo blast over the fence by DeLeo to lead off the third and double Boxford’s lead (2-0).
“He made a really nice adjustment on a curveball and did some damage with it,” Paul DeLeo noted.
Walks drawn by Harry Stevens and Vincent Merullo led to another RBI by Carrieri and Merullo scoring on a wild pitch as Boxford went ahead by four.
Bases loaded walks drawn by Jackson Surface and DeLeo in the fourth extended the lead to 6-1. Boxford’s patience at the plate paid off, since they drew 10 walks and also had two hit batsmen.
In the sixth, Merullo singles and a Taeger hit a two-out double, but Lynnfield bore down and got out of the bases loaded jam without allowed any further damage.
By going 3-0 in Section 4 play, Boxford became the first District 15 champ to make the state finals since 2018. They toppled Billerica on a walk-off in the opener, beat Lynnfield on a walk-off in extra innings in the semi’s and then took care of business against an excellent Pioneers team that featured one of the state’s best pitchers on Saturday.
“It’s a little bittersweet because we’re pretty close with the Lynnfield team and it’s hard to see them not be successful. These were two great games against them and Thursday’s was one of the best Little League games you’ll see,” Paul DeLeo said.