SWAMPSCOTT — A seven-inning thriller. A game of close calls. Whatever you want to call it, Sunday afternoon was action-packed.
Ultimately, however, the 12-year-old Little League All-Stars from East Lynn lost 9-8 to Winthrop, which scored three runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to settle the score.
It marked the end of the season for East Lynn.
“This is a bittersweet end to my Little League coaching career,” East Lynn manager Andy Lang said. “I’ve given to East Lynn Little League for nearly 10 years. I’m truly proud of the leadership, coaches, parents, and most importantly, the young men we’ve produced over the years. Most of the 2021 City Series Champion Padres are now playing at a high level for coach (Leon) Elwell and crew at Lynn Classical, and I expect the same from most of this team. As long as I made a small difference in one of these kids’ lives, it was worth every tryout, practice, game, ice cream, and Gatorade.”
Lang’s team trailed by three runs in the sixth inning with two outs and two on. Enter Amauri Quintana, who hit a game-tying three-run homer on the first pitch he saw. It was his second homer of the season and first of any All-Star game.
Winthrop fought back in the top of the seventh, throwing three runs to Isael Rodriguez and Quintana. But a leadoff walk by East Lynn’s Yormanny Contreras and a double by Raiden Por led to the “heart and soul of our team,” Tyler Lopes, as Lang put it, breaking through with a clutch single to pull East Lynn within a run.
But that was all. Winthrop reliever Ryan McKenzie struck out two and forced a game-ending pop fly to short.
Por was strong on the mound for East Lynn, allowing just three singles and striking out seven. Rodriguez came in as a reliever and ran through the fifth inning.
“We’ve relied on Raiden’s right arm all year,” Lang said. “He’s helped us time and time again. He’s worked really hard to get to where he is in his career.”
“There were a lot of close calls — and at this level, and with the amount of talent on the field, that’s to be expected,” Lang said. “Triant (Chase/Winthrop SP) was great on the mound for them. We put balls in play, but they made the outs and we didn’t.”
Rodriguez was honored at the start of the game for his first All-Star home run (5th overall), which he hit earlier this summer against Saugus.
