AUBURN – Neither pre-game hail nor a 30-degree drop in temperature over the course of the day would keep Edward Little and Cheverus from opening their SMAA baseball season at Auburn Suburban Little League complex Wednesday. But a deep Cheverus lineup and some untimely errors would keep the Red Eddies out of the win column.

The Eddies yielded 16 hits and committed seven errors as the Stags pulled away late on their way to a 15-4 win at cold and blustery Austin Field.

Will McCandless (double, four RBIs) and Michael Groth (home run, three RBIs) collected four hits apiece to lead the Stags. Luke Robinson and Rory Flynn led the Eddies with two hits each.

“I was really pleased with our bats,” said Cheverus coach Al Livingston. “We were aggressive at the plate and really hit the ball hard for not being out much this year. Everybody contributed right up and down the lineup.”

Eight of eleven Stag hitters collected at least one hit, and one of the batters who didn’t, Andrew Ward, had to leave the game after his first at-bat when he was hit in the mouth by a Flynn pitch. Ward remained conscious the entire time and was up and walking around moments after being hit but was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

EL (0-1) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and hung tough once Cheverus’ offense broke through with a five-run fourth and looked to rally back into the game after the Stags opened a 7-4 lead. But Cheverus starter Joe Lucci worked himself out of a jam in the fifth and, with the help of Andrei Enikeev, shut down the Eddies the rest of the way.

“We’re still working and trying to find our identity, but it goes back to we didn’t get our bat on the ball enough,” said EL coach Scott Annear.

The Stags got their leadoff man aboard in each of the first three innings, but couldn’t scratch a run across against Flynn. The Eddies did the same thing in the first inning, but finally got on the board when an errant throw from first to second base allowed Robinson to score from second.

Cheverus (1-0) took a 5-1 lead in the fourth, helped by three EL miscues and RBI singles by McCandless, Groth, Devin Coyne and Matt Duffy. But EL took advantage of three Cheverus errors in the bottom half of the frame to pull back within a run.

Groth’s home run, a blast to left-center off reliever Colby Gilbert to lead off the fifth, made it 6-4. The Stags plated another insurance run when Mac Simpson doubled and scored on McCandless’ single to left.

The Eddies seemed poised to make another dent in the Stags’ lead when B.J. Mooney led off their half of the fifth with a single and Nick Lawler reached on a misplayed fly to center. But Lucci made a key adjustment and struck out the side to end the Eddies’ last threat of the game.

“I stayed away from my fastball and came in with some off-speed,” Lucci said. “My slider was working real well today, as was my curve ball.”

“We had an opportunity to get the pressure on, but we didn’t get the ball in play,” Annear said. “If we get even one or two runs out of that inning, it’s significant. That was the turning point right there.”

Cheverus scored two more in the sixth and broke it open in the seventh with six more runs.

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