LAWRENCE — With five games left in the regular season, Lawrence High baseball coach Brendan Neilon tweaked his lineup, just a touch, moving trusty second baseman Brahiam Ortega down from the two-spot to No. 9.
After yielding minor dividends, the move popped like a hot, bio-med IPO yesterday in the opening round of the Division 1 North sectional playoffs against Super 8 nominee Lincoln-Sudbury.
In a scoreless thriller, Ortega beat out an infield hit to lead the bottom of the sixth then came racing homing on Elvis Peralta's slice double down the left-field line. The one-run would be the lone run of the game as Lancer Michael Guerrero closed out his brilliant three-hit shutout with a 1-2-3 seventh.
"He's one of our better hitters, but he was struggling a little bit, so we moved him down to nine so he could see a few more fastballs," said Neilon.
Yesterday, Neilon couldn't have drawn the script up any better himself.
Having the most dangerous hitter in the Valley this year — Peralta, hitting .482 — follow Ortega's hustle hit was huge.
"Their guy (righty submarine-style pitcher Tom Novick) was really tough on us, but I noticed his ball tailed away from me," said Peralta. "So I went to the plate with a plan. I was taking his ball the other way no matter what."
Forget about the bunt — which the book may have called for there.
"No way, was I letting him bunt," said Neilon. "The kid has been on fire. His outs are hard outs. He's hit nothing but line drives all year."
Peralta saw the defense pulled around to right field, so he loved what he saw and attacked, slicing a laser just inside the foul line.
Ortega scored easily.
Guerrero was energized and just finished a masterpiece in style, posting strikeouts 10 and 11 in the seventh. He walked only one.
"We really don't have a No. 1 pitcher, but Michael went out there and certainly looked like on today," said Neilon. "We have four guys who have pitched well all year. I just went with the senior for the leadership, and you saw what he did out there. He made me look like a genius."
Guerrero didn't allow a runner past second base on the day, getting some help from guys like catcher Andy Acosta, who threw out a would-be base steal at third to end the first inning, and the shortstop Peralta, who was flawless in the field.
Monday, the No. 8 Lancers, will play at Merrimack College, 4 p.m., against top-seeded Central Catholic.
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Baseball, 06/06/15 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
