All it takes is one as St. Mary’s escapes Swampscott

LYNN — It’s not very often a team goes home with two hits – and a win. But as Jeff Goldblum says in “Jurassic Park,” life finds a way.

In Friday’s Game 1 of the Doug Mullins Memorial Baseball Tournament, St. Mary’s (15-4) defended Fraser Field with a 1-0 win against Swampscott (10-9).

St. Mary’s – the only team to win the tournament since it launched in 2022 – reached Saturday’s title game at 2 p.m., but had to dodge a (Jack) spear to do so.

With each going the eight-inning distance, Swampscott’s Spear (6 K, 2 H) and St. Mary’s Josh Doney (6 K, 1 H) went inning for inning.

“The pitchers pitched great – both of them,” said Swampscott coach Joe Caponigro.

It’s true. Doney didn’t allow a hit for the final seven innings, while Spear was spinning a no-hitter until the sixth.

“He (Spear) threw strikes and had that curveball going,” said St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana. “The pitching was outstanding.”

But in the end, the winning team needed just one run, and St. Mary’s got it in the eighth.

Shea Newhall got on base with a walk, followed by Kyle Doney, who slid safely to first after a bunt.

You could say the Spartans’ crowd sensed one coming.

And from there, Michael DeMaino played the role of the hero, connecting on a base hit to bring in the winning run. The next thing you know, Spartans were piling up in celebration.

“It feels good to get a win,” Dana said.

Caponigro, whose Big Blue soon enter the Division 3 state tournament, looked on the bright side after his team battled with “a top-notch guy” in Doney.

“He’s a heck of a pitcher and pounds the strike zone,” Caponigro said. “We had our hands full with him. Hats off to them. They’re a very good team and this will help us heading into the state tournament.”

He also kept it simple postgame.

“They just made one more play than we did,” Caponigro said. “We had opportunities.”

And there were none bigger than in the sixth inning. Swampscott had men on first and third, and St. Mary committed back-to-back errors.

But, among other highlights, first baseman Newhall made an unorthodox play, firing across the field to third base and gunning down his target.

“Although that’s not how you write it up… he had the confidence to do that,” said a chuckling Dana. “That was a huge play.”

Other big defensive plays came from Swampscott’s Caden Ross and Michael Collins, among others.

“We’ve got to make plays defensively, which we did,” Caponigro said. “But we’ve got to get guys on base, too, which we obviously didn’t.”

You could say St. Mary’s has struggled to find its offense lately. Look no further than shutout losses to St. John’s Prep and Hamilton-Wenham this week.

That said, Dana believes his players “just have to relax in there.”

“They know it. We’ve done everything. Throwing live, soft toss, we’ve got two pitching machines – they’ve done it all,” he said. “They’re just pressing too much. When we are hitting, we’re hitting ropes all over the place.”

The two-day tournament honors former Lynn English baseball coach and lifelong Lynn resident Doug Mullins, who lost a courageous battle to osteosarcoma in October 2020 at the age of 34. Its goal is to award an annual scholarship to a deserving student-athlete from each team, and to continue to honor the memory of Mullins.

“I loved him like a little brother and I’m glad this tournament is going on to remember him,” Dana said.

“It’s a tribute to him and we had a nice crowd,” Caponigro said. “I’m sure he’s watching this from above with a big smile on his face.”

To contribute, Venmo @MullinsMemorialTourney or write a check payable to Mullins Memorial Baseball Tournament – Mailing Address: 2 Cedar Hill Drive, Danvers, MA, 01923.

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