PEABODY — Throwing strikes is the mission for any starting pitcher … and it’s one Peabody High junior Liam Smith has embraced in a big way.
A righthander who’s earned a spot in the starting rotation for the first time this spring, Smith filled up the zone and didn’t walk a batter in a complete game victory over Beverly at a chilly Bezemes Diamond Tuesday afternoon.
With a three run lead in the seventh, he fell behind the leadoff hitter with three straight balls, but battled back to get the out in an at-bat that was emblematic of his outing. The Panthers threatened to rally by putting two on base before Smith slammed the door for a 6-3 final score.
“Liam’s a hard worker who had a great summer and came to the season with the attitude of knowing our team needed pitching and wanting to be one of those guys,” said Tanner head coach Mark Bettencourt, his team now 3-4.
Smith was economical with his pitches, completing the game with under 100 offerings. He scattered five hits, didn’t allow an earned run and kept the Panthers (3-4) off balance by serving up off-speed stuff early in the count.
“He’s not over-powering, but because he throws three off-speed pitches for strikes, his fastball comes in looking like it has some more giddy up on it,” Bettencourt said. “Liam has to pitch backwards, a little bit, and he embraces that.”
Visiting Beverly dropped its third straight and wasn’t without its chances, stranding eight on the basepaths and five in scoring position. They were 0-of-11 with runners on base in the ballgame.
“That’s been our kryptonite lately,” said Beverly coach Jon Cahill. “We haven’t been able to get that momentum swinging knock or those 2-out RBIs.”
It was the opposite for the Tanners, who plated a pair of runs with two outs. Senior Max Siliva had a pair of RBI including a double in the third that gave his team the lead for good. Sophomore Mark Bettencourt followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 and an RBI double by senior Pedro Flores (2-for-3, 2 runs) restored the three run lead in the fourth.
Overall, Peabody finished the game with six hits with two by senior captain Ethan Waybret (RBI) and Jack Smith’s 2-out RBI single.
“We got production all over the lineup,” Bettencourt noted, “and in a lot of different situations. Sac flies with two strikes, ground balls to move runners in pressure situations, things like that. Two out RBI are huge for our team because sometimes we’re not getting opportunities until there’s two outs.”
Beverly took advantage of four Peabody errors in one inning to squad the game at 2-2 in the second. Teddy Fisher started the rally with a hit but some miscues led to a Pierce RBI fielder’s choice and Thomas Collins (single, two runs) coming home on an errant throw.
“That’s kind of how we’ve been scoring runs lately,” Cahill said, “and we have to find ways to do it ourselves rather than relying on miscues. We have a veteran lineup and we’ll find a way.”
O’Leary played well for Beverly in his return from injury, senior Jon Reyes went 2-for-4 with a double and Charlie Salerno added a hit. Albert Polanco pitched well for the first three frames and Jack Dodge came on to fan four batter over the last three.
“There are some shining moments and you have to get better from the losses,” Cahill said.
Peabody, which has now won two of its three home games, also saw Crocker rebound nicely at shortstop with some strong defensive plays in the late innings.
“We have a younger team, so it’s all about building game-to-game,” said Bettencourt. “Don’t step backwards and keep stepping forward. This was a step forwards.”