The annals of sport are chock-full of thrilling stories of great comebacks, as teams written off or deemed finished salvage something that rockets them to unexpected success. Anybody remember the 2004 Red Sox?
Well, that doesn't happen in Little League. The rules say that if one team is down by 10 or more runs after four ininnings, the game is over, so Swampscott's 12-year-old All Stars were forced, by rule, to swallow a disappointing 14-3 loss to Lynnfield Sunday in the opening round of tournament play.
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Make no mistake, Lynnfield is a powerhouse, as they walloped Swampscott starter Liam Faulkner for 8 runs in the first two innings, powered by three home runs. But Swampscott is a scrappy bunch, and they showed the potential to chip away as they started to make contact in the third and fourth innings when they scored a run in each.
It was far too little too late. Lynnfield set the tone early, as Kyle Hawes blasted a two-run homer to straightaway center with one out. After Faulkner walked Mike Stellato, Dan Jameson launched another two-run homer to make it 4-0 before Swampscott touched a bat.
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Swampscott got a run back in the bottom of the first when Colin Frary singled home leadoff hitter Spencer Perkins. But the floodgates opened in the second as Lynnfield batted through the order and tallied six runs, sending Faulkner to an early reassignment to first base. Joey Mack homered for Lynnfield in the inning.
Though the game settled down after that, the damage was done.
Now facing elimination, will play Saturday against the loser of Sunday's Nahant-Salem matchup.
