“The big guy was firing on all cylinders last night.”
That was the reaction from Gloucester Little League all-star coach Brendan Fullerton after his top pitcher, Will Emerson, tossed a gem Monday evening to help the young Fishermen to a 7-3 victory over Ipswich on opening night of District 15 play.
Emerson, a key returnee from last year’s 12U Williamsport all-star group, fanned 14 batters and didn’t yield a single walk. He went 5 1/3 innings on the mound before hitting his pitch max at Boudreau Field.
Braydon Simon then slammed the door with two quick outs to seal the team’s first victory of the tournament.
“Will’s our ace for a reason,” said Fullerton. “We knew if he was on he was going to be very tough to beat and he was on for sure. We were able to scrap together a few hits and piece it together to back him up.”
Emerson wound up allowing just three hits and three runs, none of which were earned. He threw 87 pitches (61 for strikes) and faced a total of 22 batters.
Simon then needed just eight pitches (5 strikes) to finish the job, meaning he’ll be eligible to throw again in his team’s next game on Wednesday if necessary.
On the other side, Emerson helped his own cause by connecting for a team-high two hits — sharing those honors with Harry Larabell — and scored twice for a Gloucester team that plated two runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to pull away for good. One of Emerson’s hits was a double, the team’s lone extra base connection.
The Fishermen finished with nine hits as a team, with Effie Parsons (RBI), Remy Jerome, Colton Currier, Robbie Steach and Massimo Numerosi (2 RBI) each adding a base knock. Numerosi drove in two in the sixth, while Larabell sent one across in the third on a hard hit line drive up the middle and another via a single in the fifth.
Gloucester was able to score its other runs by capitalizing on Ipswich fielding errors.
“The kid that pitched for Ipswich (Thomas Carlin) was really good. He kept us off balance most of the night but we grinded at bats, fouled off balls, and were able to get his pitch count up to knock him out in the fourth inning,” said Fullerton. “We put the ball in play and put the pressure on them. They made some mistakes and we were aggressive on the bases to push across some runs.”
Drew Aiello added a walk and scored a run for Gloucester while Dante Holding drew two walks and scored once as well. Jack Brancaleone also reached base via a walk.
Gloucester had a few miscues of its own defensively — three errors, to be exact — but was able to clean it up as the night rolled on and only allow one run after the second inning.
It was only Game 1, but the Fishermen did their job by holding serve and will now turn their attention to Wednesday’s road clash against Beverly (5:30 p.m. at Manchester Essex’s field). Pool play will continue through Wednesday, July 2 before the top two teams from each group move on to Round 2.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.