Danvers National defeats Beverly East in first round of District 15 Tournament

Danvers - John Long and Kevin Hodgkins hit back-to-back home runs in a fateful fifth as Danvers National defeated Beverly East in a come-from-behind victory in the first round of the District 15 Williamsport Tournament at Pingree Park, June 27.

Trailing 12-3 entering the middle of the third inning, Danvers National staged a miraculous comeback plating six runs in the third and three in the fourth to tie, before ultimately putting the game away with a five-run rally in the fifth.

“They just didn’t quit,” said Danvers National coach Dave Gotts. “We were down by eight runs at one point and they just didn’t give up. That’s a team victory.”

Danvers National came out swinging in the bottom of the first. Rafael Tylus, Sean Lungergan and Thomas Cadmus all scored giving them an early 3-0 lead.

But Beverly East bats exploded for eight runs in the second, led by a pair of towering home runs by Brady McLaughlin, to take the 8-3 advantage.

“Brady has tremendous power,” Beverly East coach Lew Leathersich said. “He had 6-7 home runs last year. He’s got tremendous power and you see it, but it’s about hitting the ball, you don’t have to hit the ball over the trees all the time.”

Beverly continued to tee off on Danvers pitching plating four more runs in the third. An RBI single from Rich Gilbride, a sacrifice fly by Mike Campatelli and a groundout by McLaughlin helped build a seemingly insurmountable 12-3 lead.

Mark Vivenzio nearly put the game away for Beverly moments later, launching a long drive to deep center, but was thwarted by a sensational catch by Danvers centerfielder Connor Rollins at the fence robbing the shortstop of a round-tripper and ending the inning.

“That was spectacular;” Gotts said. “I think it was [going] over the fence. That was an awesome defensive display by [Connor].”

Vinny Clifford sparked the Danvers comeback drilling a pinch hit grand slam home run in the third. And when Tylus delivered a bases-clearing triple the following inning, the game was suddenly tied 12-12.

On the mound Clifford was just as effective, tossing three strong innings of scoreless relief surrendering just two hits while striking out seven to pick up the victory.

“It was a slugfest,” Leathersich said. “Anytime you give up a 12-4 lead, you have to hand it to Danvers. They played tremendous. They hit the ball. They’re well coached. They did a tremendous job. They deserved to win."

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