By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — This summer, the Northeast Baseball League expanded. Before, there was just one variety division for high school-aged players. This year, they had five divisions. Along with the varsity division, they had two 16 and under divisions and two other 14 and under divisions.
Lynnfield’s team in the Division 2 14 and under did very well as they went 7-2 in the regular season as they finished third in the nine-team league.
The Pioneers, under manager Jeff Morgan, then lost to second-seeded Dracut-White, 12-9, back on July 26 in the playoffs.
“Like with many summer leagues we started losing players to vacation late in the season,” said Morgan.
Assistant coach, Peter MacKinnon, agreed.
“All season long we had trouble with kids on vacation, especially in the second half of the year,” he pointed out.
Dracut-White ended up losing to top-seeded Stoneham two games to one in the best-of-three final series.
The season started for the Pioneers back on June 20.
The roster consisted of Chase Bergeron, Chase Buoniconti, Andrew Carbone, James Cassidy, Lucas Deraps, Evan Diranian, Ephram Donahue, Michael Hubbard, Davin McClory, Cole MacKinnon, Oliver Morgan, James Pasquale and Coleman Walsh.
“We found out in the spring that the league was expanding,” said MacKinnon. “It is great because it allows the kids to play extra baseball into the summer.”
Walsh led the team in batting average while Bergeron led the squad in runs batted in. MacKinnon was the team leader in on-base-percentage while Morgan was the Pioneers’ steals leader.
On the mound, the Pioneers were led by Pasquale who paced the team in wins and earned-run-average.
Several of the players are expected to return next summer when they will play in the under 16 level. Most of the roster is heading into 9th-grade next week while a couple of the players are heading into the 8th-grade.
The Northeast Baseball League has been around since 1969.