Announcement
Merchants Deal Chiefs 10-7 Loss in Wakefield
Wakefield, MA- The runs came in bunches at Walsh Field on Wednesday night.
The Merchants jumped out to a 6-0 second inning lead only to see the Chiefs rally back to score seven unanswered runs to take a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning.
Wakefield however had the final say in this one, scoring the final four runs of the night to take their fourth straight win, 10-7.
It was a rough first inning for Chiefs’ starter Jared Freni who gave up five runs and four hits, with the big blows being a bases clearing triple from Josh Band, and RBI singles from John Davison and B.J. Neil. Freni left the game at the end of the inning with his pre-game back muscle tightness certainly being a factor.
Evan Walsh came on to replace Freni to start the bottom of the second and the lead went to 6-0 on singles from Bobby Losanno, Mike Sorrentino, and Band.
The Chiefs chopped the lead in half in the top of the third. Mike Burgoyne walked, Paul Yanakopulos, Tony Serino, and Billy Mottram all singled, to make it a 6-2 game. Serino then scored to make it 6-3 when shortstop Scott Searles made a nice backhand grab of a Ryan Sonberg grounder and turned it into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.
Walsh kept the Merchants off the board in the bottom of the third and the Chiefs cut the lead to 6-5 in the top of the fourth. Peter Copa singled and Mike Andre moved him to second. After Mike Barbati flew out, RBI singles by Mike Burgoyne and Danny DiMare made it a one run game.
Sorrentino drew a walk to lead off the Merchants’ fourth but Walsh completed his second shutout inning with two groundouts and a strikeout.
The Chiefs came all the way to take a short lived 7-6 lead in the top of the fifth. Mottram walked, Gedman doubled, and Copa drove them both home with a RBI single to left.
The Merchants used singles from Neil, Lou Tarantino, Losanno, and Sorrentino, to come back and score three times and take the lead for good at 9-7 in the bottom of the fifth.
Brendan Deleire (1-0) blanked the Chiefs over the final two frames to pick up the win.
Walsh, (0-1, 4.0 innings, 8 hits, 2K’s) took the loss. Gedman worked his first inning of the season in relief of Walsh in the bottom of the sixth.
Johnny Welch left the game in the second inning, as a precautionary measure, after being hit in the helmet by a Jason Ferlan pitch in the top of the first. Welch appeared okay and remained in the Chiefs dugout during the game. (Bruce Tillman/Dave Greco)
