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Hall of Fame shocker for Methuen

Saturday, April, 19 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

Historic Doubleday Field brings out the best in the Methuen Rangers.

Methuen shocked Tewksbury, the top-rated team in Eastern Mass., 6-4, in the shadow of the National Baseball Hall of Fame behind another heroic David Koerner mound performance.

"This one's immense," said Dave Fabrizio, whose Rangers improved to 3-4, 2-1 in the Merrimack Valley Conference. "They're going to beat everyone else. That's a heck of a team. To win here against them, like this, here, makes it just a great trip."

The Rangers led early, gave up the lead then rallied to victory by doing what they hadn't done yet in the young season ... hit with runners in scoring position.

Methuen watched Tewksbury recover from a 1-0 deficit to take a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the fourth. It was a test, one that the Rangers passed with a bang.

Jhiomar Veras started things with a one-out single, and Kenny Polanco chased him to third with a pinch-hit double.

Methuen had stranded seven runners over the previous four innings, but senior catcher Steve Saba then awoke the slumbering bats with a ringing two-run double to the right-centerfield gap.

"I needed to hit, someone needed to produce," said Saba. "That was awesome. It definitely turned the game around for us."

Koerner followed with an RBI base hit, making it 4-3 Rangers.

That lead swelled to 6-3 in the sixth on a Polanco sac fly and Saba's run-scoring single.

"It's contagious," said Fabrizio of the clutch hitting. "We have been struggling with runners on. Polanco came up with a big swing, and Saba just came up huge for us."

From there, it was all in the hands of the Koerner. The senior, now 2-1 with a 0.70 ERA, struck out 10 to make it 26 in 20 innings pitched.

Victory did not come without some tense moments, though, as Tewksbury left the tying run at second in the seventh.

"He's the most competitive kid I've ever been around," said Fabrizio of his ace. "He's just one in a million."