Moore goes the distance, Gloucester baseball downs Beverly

May 15—BEVERLY — Playing its third game in four days, the Gloucester baseball team needed a strong performance from its starting pitcher in Friday's game at Beverly.

Brett Moore was on the hill for his first start of the season and he gave them just that. The junior left hander scattered six hits in a complete game effort, striking out 11 and allowing just two runs in a 4-2 Gloucester win at Brother Roberts Field.

With the win, Gloucester moves above .500 at 3-2 while Beverly falls to 1-2.

"I can't stress enough how great Brett was," Gloucester head coach Rory Gentile said. "We're seeing this season, and I'm not sure if it's because of the year off or not, but if you're around the strike zone you're going to get a lot of strike outs. Brett is mentally tough and not afraid to challenge hitters. He kept a good hitting team off balance all game."

Beverly head coach Jon Cahill could only tip his cap to the opposing pitcher.

"He threw the ball very well," Cahill said. "To be as efficient in the last inning as he was in the first inning was a testament to his ability."

Beverly got to Moore right away when Ryan Rushton singled in Austin Bernard, who led off the game with a base hit, to give Beverly a 1-0 lead.

Moore, however, was in control the rest of the way as he used a fastball, change-up and curveball all over the strike zone to stymie the Beverly bats. He only allowed four hits over the final six innings, three of them coming in the fifth while walking just two batters on the day.

Gloucester took the lead for good in the third inning with a three-run rally that saw nine men come to the plate. Emerson Marshall, Jack Costanzo (two hits) and Aidan Cornetta (two hits, two runs) all singled to open up the frame. Marshall got the scoring started on a wild pitch. Zach Morris' infield single then scored Costanzo with Cornetta coming around later in the frame after Danny Hafey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

"We put the ball in play and good things will happen when you do that," Gentile said. "But we need to take the next step in that situation and drive the ball in the strike zone more. That could have been a bigger rally and they got out of it allowing three runs and that kept them in the game the rest of the way. We swung the bats better, made some hard outs, but we still have work to do there."

The rally could have been worse for Beverly, but left fielder Griffin Francis made the defensive play of the day, taking extra bases and at least two RBIs away from Anthony Rizzo with a full extension diving catch down the line on a slicing fly ball. Instead of a game broken wide open, Beverly faced a manageable 3-1 deficit.

"Griffin had a great game defensively and that was a big catch," Cahill said. "But it got away from us a little in that inning. We just weren't ready for that type of position and unfortunately I let it snowball more than it needed to."

Beverly got a run back with a fifth inning rally as Joseph Brown's double to deep left plated Brennan Frost, who singled, to make it 3-2.

But Moore got a big strikeout to get out of the jam with the tying run at second base. He came back out in the sixth and worked around a one-out walk against the heart of Beverly's order.

Gloucester added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Cornetta was hit by a pitch, stole second and then came around to score on an errant throw to third base after a Zach Abbott bunt.

Moore got the side in order in the seventh to finish off the complete game.

"I felt really good about him finishing it off after he got out of the sixth," Gentile said. "He pitched really smart in that situation and finished strong."

The Fishermen are back in action on Monday night at Peabody (7 p.m.). Beverly hosts Marblehead on Monday (4 p.m.).

Gloucester 4, Beverly 2

at Brother Roberts Field, Beverly

Gloucester (3-2) 003 000 1| 4

Beverly (1-2) 100 010 0| 2

Gloucester: Jack Costanzo, SS, 4-1-2; Aidan Cornetta, CF, 2-2-2; Zach Abbott, DH, 3-0-0; Zach Morris, LF, 4-0-1; Zach Oliver, 3B, 4-0-0; Danny Hafey, C, 3-0-0; Tommy Elliott, RF, 2-0-0; Anthony Rizzo, 1B, 2-0-0; Emerson Marshall, 2B, 3-1-1. Totals, 27-4-6.

Beverly: Austin Bernard, CF, 3-1-1; Griffin Francis, LF, 2-0-0; Sam Armbruster, SS, 3-0-0; Ryan Rushton, C, 3-0-2; Casey Bellew, RF, 2-0-0; Brennan Frost, 1B, 3-1-1; Joseph Brown, DH, 3-0-1; Jackson Sumner, 3B, 3-0-0; Josh Demers, 2B/P, 3-0-1. Totals, 25-2-6.

RBI: G, Morris, Hafey; B, Rushton, Brown.

WP, Brett Moore; LP, Christian Morrissey.