Flynn Leads Lenox to First Win
LENOX, Mass. – Cliff Flynn was a monster on the mound and at the plate Wednesday as the Lenox baseball team earned its first win of the young season.
Flynn struck out 13 in six innings of work and went 4-for-4 with a double to lead the Millionaires to a 10-0 win over Mohawk Trail at War Memorial Field.
“He threw strikes, and that’s what we’ve got to do,” Lenox coach Kevin Downer said.
“He mixed it up a little bit. When he got two strikes on the hitter, he got it up and got them to swing at pitches that weren’t in the zone, which is a good thing.”
Downer said that Flynn was out of town the last couple of days on a college visit but came back just in time to help Lenox improve to 1-3.
“He came back today, and he threw well, and we needed that out of him,” Downer said.
Flynn struck out two hitters with a man on second in the top of the first inning to set the tone for the game. He went on to strand five runners in six innings, including runners at the corners in the top of the third when it was still scoreless.
Lenox broke the seal on the game in the bottom of the third.
Zack Nicotra got things started with a one-out double and stole second ahead of leadoff man Michael Ward, who reached on an error with an RBI groundout for the only run Floyd needed.
In the fourth, Lenox gave Flynn a cushion with three runs.
He got the rally started with a single to left, stole second and scored when Luca Traversa reached on a two-base error. Traversa ended up scoring on another error later in the inning, which also brought home Sam Joyce, who reached on an infield single.
In the bottom of the seventh, Lenox put the game out of reach with a six-run rally.
Brendan Armstrong had the big hit, a two-run double to right center. Flynn also singled to drive in a run in the inning.
Traversa went to the mound in the top of the sixth to close out the game, striking out two more. Catcher Joyce ended the game by throwing out a runner attempting to steal second base.
It was a good way to end the game for a Lenox defense that did not commit an error behind Flynn or Traversa – the few times they let a Mohawk Trail batter put the ball in play.
“That’s the one thing I was happy to see today,” Downer said. “We didn’t kick the ball around. We didn’t give away any outs, which is something we haven’t been doing. We have been giving away too many outs, and we didn’t do that today.
“That’s a good thing to see.”
Lenox is right back at it again on Thursday with a road trip to Pioneer Valley.