By Jean DePlacido
correspondent
—
Bob Sullivan, manager of Peabody West Williamsport Little League, has been putting quite a few miles on his car this week. Sullivan wanted to get a first hand look at the other three teams Peabody West will play, as the team returns to the Massachusetts Final Four for the fifth straight time after winning District 15 and Section 4.
Peabody West opens the tournament against Newton West, the Section 3 champ, in the first game of the pool play format this afternoon at Kelly Field in Norwood at 4:15 p.m. Sullivan has all of his pitching staff eligible to go except Traverse Briana, who won the championship game against Stoneham, 13-2, on Monday night and can pitch tomorrow.
Sullivan knows the deeper his team goes the tougher it gets so he wants to be prepared.
"Every step you take, it gets harder," said Sullivan, whose team has yet to lose a game this summer (9-0). "It's funny because Swampscott was our toughest test in the first game of sectionals. In order to get this far you know all the teams are going to be outstanding. It all comes down to how good your pitching is, and we believe our staff is very deep.
"Because this is the same format used in our sectional, winning the first two games is so important. We had everybody ready to go against Swampscott, and the only difference now is we can't use Trav until Friday. Having four games in four days makes it tough to keep your rotation the same. What happened to Stoneham was they had only two good pitchers; they won the first two games but had used up their best pitchers. If we can keep hitting and get a big lead early we can play around with the pitchers."
What has made Peabody West so tough and so successful is getting production from all 12 players on the roster. It has become routine for somebody to come off the bench and collect a clutch hit or make a big defensive play. Matt Tracy wasn't a starter in the championship game, but he came in to hit back-to-back two run homers — the second one putting Peabody ahead by the requisite 10 runs to send Stoneham home early.
"All tournament long we've had different kids come up with big plays," said Sullivan. "They have all done something positive to help us win. I keep telling them our 12 has to be stronger than the other team's 12. They are all contributing so they are all very involved all the time. Our strategy is going to stay the same; if it's not broke don't try to fix it. Things have been working just fine so far."
Peabody West may be the first team to ever play in five straight state Final Fours, but this a new group that plans to relish the experience.
"The kids are all looking forward to the Final Four. Some of them are staying in hotels for the tournament," said Sullivan. "They set the coaches up in a hotel so Steve Guttadauro and I will be staying in Norwood for the entire tournament. We have to be there at 11 a.m. (today) for the coaches meeting and then at 1 p.m. the umpires go over all the ground rules with us. Because our game is the early one we'll meet around 2, hit and do our warm-ups. There's not much waiting around. Our kids really want to keep it going just like the teams before them did."
Sullivan didn't stick around after his team wrapped up the title in Woburn on Monday night. He wanted to watch the District 3 title game between Newton West and Westwood, knowing the winner would be his next opponent.
"It was a real close game with Westwood taking a 4-2 lead before Newton came back to win, 5-4. Newton looked strong, but you have to be good to get to this level. I want to see every team there before we play them. There really wasn't much time to celebrate the sectional win. We practiced early on Tuesday afternoon so I could get to Leominster to see Section 1 play, and North Leominster beat Agawam, 11-1. Fortunately I had time to go to Shrewsbury for Section 2 after that one ended. Southboro beat Braintree American, 5-2. Now I've seen everybody, and I'll get another look at them in Norwood so I'll see North Leominster and Southboro twice before we play them. It doesn't hurt to be prepared."
MASSACHUSETTS LITTLE LEAGUE FINAL FOUR
Where: Kelly Field in Norwood
When: Peabody West plays Newton West in tourney opener today at 4:15
Format: Pool play to decide top two teams that battle it out for Massachusetts championship
What's at stake: Trip to New England Tourney in Bristol, Conn.
Directions: Take 128 South to US-1 S/Providence Highway (Exit 15B); then take Morse street approximately half a mile to Washington St. Park is located at 1315 Washington St. in Norwood.
For more information: Visit host Norwood Little League on-line at http://www.eteamz.com/norwoodll
If you can't go: We'll be posting updates from the games on Twitter; you can follow us via @MikeGrenier_SN, @MattJenkins_SN and @MattWilliams_SN; There is also an automatic Twitter feed on our Web page at http://www.salemnews.com/sports
TODAY'S GAMES
Newton West vs. Peabody West (4:15 p.m.)
North Leominster vs. Southborough (7:45 p.m.)
FRIDAY
Southborough vs. Peabody West (4:45 p.m.)
Newton West vs. North Leominster (7:30 p.m.)
SATURDAY
North Leominster vs. Peabody West (4:45 p.m.)
Newton West vs. Southborough (7:30 p.m.)
SUNDAY
Championship game (4 p.m.)
