Swampscott 12U All-Stars Drop to Losers Bracket After Loss to Wyoma

Slide to see Swampscott and Wyoma’s starting pitchers side by side || Quinn Hitchcock

In a tense 1-0 pitchers’ duel, Wyoma bested Swampscott in the District 16 winners bracket semifinal Sunday afternoon at Charlie Reinfuss Field in Lynn.

The loss drops two-time defending champion Swampscott into the losers bracket, where they will now fight to stay alive in the 10-team double-elimination tournament.

The lone run of Sunday’s game came in the third inning, when Wyoma’s Jacob Schipilliti crossed the plate on an RBI single by Dylan Martel.

That was all Wyoma needed, thanks to a stellar complete-game performance from left-hander Anthony Owumi. The southpaw threw 72 pitches over six innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six and keeping Swampscott off the board.

Swampscott’s Cormac Ray matched Owumi for most of the afternoon, pitching five strong innings on 70 pitches with eight strikeouts while giving up only three hits and one run.

The Big Blue’s best opportunity came in the top of the fifth inning. With runners on first and second base and no outs, they looked poised to tie or take the lead until Wyoma executed a rare 1-5-4 triple play. A popup back to the mound triggered the wild sequence, with both runners attempting to advance before being tagged out.

The game ended with a tense battle between Owumi and batter Michael Rossi, who fought off four two-strike pitches before going down swinging with the tying run stranded on third.

Michael Rossi fouls one off to see another day || Quinn Hitchcock

Despite the loss, Swampscott manager Mike Rossi praised his team’s effort.

“Pitching was great,” he said. “We held them to just one run, which is pretty amazing.”

Rossi said the “grit of the team” impressed him the most.

“The grit of this team, hanging in there, making contact, trying to get on base,” Rossi said. “We just fell a little short at the end.”

With the loss, Swampscott (1-1) will face Saugus (2-1) in an elimination game Monday evening in Salem. First pitch is scheduled for 5:45 p.m at Forest River Park.

The game will be Swampscott’s second in as many days and Saugus’s third in four.

“We’re going to show up, be aggressive on the base paths, swing our bats and just try to score as many runs as possible,” Rossi said.