BAEZ, SALVATELLI POWER BLUE DEVILS TO VICTORY
Leominster cruises past Doherty in tourney
If there was even a hint of pressure coming down on the Leominster High baseball team on Tuesday, it didn’t show.
The top- seeded Blue Devils did what is expected of No. 1 teams come tournament time, storming past eight- seeded Doherty, 10-1, in a Central Mass. Athletic Directors Association Class quarterfinal at Doyle Field.
The Blue Devils (16-1) advance to the Class A semifinals, where they will host St. Paul on Friday with a time to be announced.
“They’re a really good eight seed with good pitching,” Leominster head coach Richard Barnaby said. “We hit the ball hard the first time through, but didn’t get anything out of it. We the second and third time through, we could get to them.”
It took some time for Leominster’s offense to get going, but once it did, it erupted, scoring six times in the fifth to blow open a 2- 0 game
And while the bats were quiet early on, junior ace Angel Baez was electric on the mound, striking out 10 in 5.2 innings. He allowed just two hits and walked one, with Doherty’s lone run charged to Baez after a lengthy delay due to an injury in the sixth.
“I thought my fastball velo was there, my offspeed was great and I knew we were going to get hits, so I was confident on the mound,” Baez said. “We started off slow, but we were never worried. We knew the hits would come and I just needed to pitch.”
Baez sat the Highlanders (98) down in order in four of the six innings he started.
“The margin for error is a little higher when you have Angel on the mound,” Barnaby said. “When you score two runs with Angel on the mound, it feels like seven. He’s pitched like an MVP all year. He’s an absolute competitor and anytime we put him on the mound, we have a lot of confidence.”
Held without a baserunner in the first two innings and without a hit through three, Tony Salvatelli put the home team on the board with a two-run blast to left in the fourth inning. After taking the first pitch outside, Salvatelli sat on a Nigel Cross fastball and launched a majestic shot over the fence in left, bringing in Thomas Gosson.
From there, the floodgates opened. By the end of the game, the Blue Devils notched 12 hits and had every batter in the lineup reach base at least once.
“We go up there every time thinking we’re going to hit the ball and score some runs,” said Salvatelli, who finished 3-for- 4 with a double, home run and five driven in. “We’re confident at the plate. … (My home run) was a big relief. It changed the momentum of the game.”
With Baez mowing down hitters and a lead established, Leominster (16-1) chased Cross from the game after a leadoff single by Mark Garner in the
fifth. Reliever Sam Conrad didn’t fare any better, as the Blue Devils scored six runs in the frame, highlighted by a three-run shot over the left field fence by Baez.
“I sat on the offspeed pitch and when I saw it, I knew it could hit it hard,” Baez said.
Thomas Gosson finished the game 2-for- 4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Alex Oquendo was 2-for-3 with a run.
Doherty broke through for its lone run in the sixth after leadoff hitter Yedan Diaz broke up a no-hit bid by Baez with a two- out single .
he Highlanders suffered a scary moment before scratching across their run. After Boris Valdez singled to left, Diaz went down in pain as he reached second base. The game was halted for nearly 25 minutes as an ambulance was called to Doyle Field for an appar
ent severe lower body injury to Diaz.
Once play resumed, Re
ece Lora relieved Baez on the hill, with the Highlanders scoring on a wild
pitch before the Blue Devils closed out the frame. Lora ended up going 1.1 innings, allowing no hits, while walking two and striking out a pair.