Great Start for Swampscott in Annual Gallant Baseball Tournament

Swampscott’s entry into the annual Gallant Baseball Tournament started out quickly on a homer by Owen Madigan-Fried and rode the right arm of Danny Muller and solid defense by Jack Moretti to knock off Beverly 5-1 Friday night.

“We got some big hits when we needed them, our pitching was great, and Jack (Moretti) made some good plays at shortstop,” Swampscott managersaid after the win.

Swampscott, Beverly, Marblehead, Lynn, Danvers, Gloucester, Peabody and Salem are taking part in the annual Gallant Tournament, held at the Stephen M. Grady Field at Forest River Park in Salem.

“Just wonderful to see everybody out here,” Gallant’s mother Eileen said Friday night after Swampscott’s win. “Ray loved baseball so much and it’s so nice to see the support from teams in the communities around Salem coming out every summer, just a nice tribute to Ray.”

The Gallant Tournament rules are a little different than regular season Little League rules, they play seven innings and there’s no pitch count. Both Swampscott’s Muller and Beverly’s Ricky Johnson were cruising along until Johnson got roughed up in the bottom of the sixth.

With Swampscott up 2-1 on Madigan-Fried’s second inning solo shot, and an RBI single by Jack Moretti in the bottom of the third, the Swampscott bats sent Johnson to the showers with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Olivieri hit one out to dead center off Johnson to make it 3-1, after a groundout by Sean Lahrizi. Moretti and Madigan-Fried singled around a Caleb Mazow strikeout, and both came home when A. J. Venutti ripped a single to center. 

Johnson got the hook after Venutti’s hit; Beverly’s Tyler Maker came on with two out and Venutti on second and he got Ryan Donnelly out to end the inning.

Muller was strong in the top of the seventh, retiring the side in order and Swampscott was on to round two, Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Swampscott pitcher whiffed nine, including Bailey Bishop, Sam Abate and Chris Cloutman in order in the second inning.

Swampscott, looking to defend their 2010 Gallant Tournament title, got a strong effort from Muller; he didn’t walk a batter, allowing one run on an RBI single in the third by Beverly’s D. J. Dalgewicz. His teammates got him five runs on seven hits Friday night.

“Danny was solid on the mound, didn’t walk anybody, and our defense played great behind him,” Olivieri said. “It was a nice effort by the whole team, we were missing a few guys, but we got the lead and didn’t give it up.”

“Swampscott played well, give them credit,” Beverly manager Stephen Marsella said. “We would have liked a better result, but we’ll get right back out there tomorrow (Saturday) and go forward.”"Hopefully we can put a few more hits together in our next gme."

The Gallant Tournament was originally called the Salem Youth Baseball Invitational Tournament, and it started back in 1984. The tournament was renamed in honor of Ray Gallant, who died of a brain tumor, back in 1992. Gallant served as a youth coach for many years in Salem before his passing, and he also taught CCD at St. James Church. There are scholarships in Gallant’s honor at Bishop Fenwick High School and Merrimack College.

“The participation and support from the area teams has been great,” Ray Cruddas with the Gallant Tournament Board of Directors said. “We’re honored to have Ray’s mom Eileen here every year to hand out the trophies at the conclusion of the tournament.”

Swampscott takes on Marblehead Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Forest River Park. Marblehead beat Salem in the late game Friday night.

“Great start for us, the boys played great, now we get ready for our next game,” Olivieri said.