Brewers top High Life 7-2 in wild and wacky Game 2

Brew Crew one win away from fourth consecutive Twi League title

CHRIS CASEY allowed just 3 hits and 2 runs while fanning 9 in a complete game victory last night at Moulton. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

WAKEFIELD — Baseball fans know — the box score rarely tells the whole story. 

Wakefield Twi League baseball fans know — you can’t get this type of entertainment from numbers. 

The numbers of last night’s Game 2 of the Twi League Finals appeared lopsided, and dare we say, boring. The three-time reigning champion Brewers outhit the High Life 12-3 in a 7-2 victory. Brewer starter Chris Casey had a splashier stat line (7IP, 3H, 5BB, 9K, 2ER) than his counterpart, Wakefield High baseball head coach Kevin Canty (7IP, 12H, 1BB, 2K, 4ER). 

Sure, the box would tell you it was close for four innings, with the Brewers putting up four in the 4^th to take the lead for good before Casey shut it down the rest of the way. 

But here are a few things that actually happened — things the numbers could never explain: Two overturned calls on plays we can guarantee have never been seen at Moulton Park; three huge runs scored thanks to slippery outfield grass; at least three moments of “what just happened?” and another handful of arguments with umpires who likely won’t go out of their way to sign up for the Finals next year. 

Put that in your stats.

JOE “THE JET” STACKHOUSE touches home with his PF Flyer cleats in the 3rd inning last night. If the High Life win tonight, they will extend the Finals to Game 4 on Sunday. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

The end result, as has been the case now 16 times in a row this summer, was the same: a Brewers win. 

The 16-0 Big Brew Machine are now up 2-0 in the Finals and one win away from their fourth consecutive Twi League championship. 

Last night’s game started quietly enough with steady pitching and solid defense keeping it scoreless through two-and-a-half frames. High Life third baseman Caleb Birchem made two great plays during this stretch — a 5-3 double play on a sharp grounder to quell a Brewer rally in the 2^nd and a catch in the dirt on a liner to end the 3^rd. His third great play of the day didn’t count. We’ll get to that later.

A strong AB and a walk by Joe Stackhouse was followed by an RBI double down the line by Jake Vezga to open the scoring. Derek Dettorre later scored Vezga on a blooper for a 2-0 advantage. The first disagreement of the night happened with the bases loaded and one out when Anthony Caracciolo hit into a 6-4-3 double play. The Life bench, with a front row seat, was sure that Caracciolo beat the throw to first but an out was called to end the inning. It wasn’t the first time the umps took a run away in this one.

The Brewers, as they are constantly known to do, responded with the bats. 

BRENDAN CASEY follows through on his 2-RBI single in the 6th inning. Casey went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI for the Brewers last night. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

Brendan Casey led off with a single and Matt Fiore’s wicked comebacker to Canty was knocked down but Canty’s throw to first sailed high and Casey came around to score. A Jack Berinato single and Steve Morganelli hit by pitch loaded the bags with nobody out. Canty got another comebacker that he flipped home for the first out and he got a pop up for the second out, bringing up Chris Casey with the bases chucked, two down and the Life clinging to a 2-1 lead. Casey’s fly to right appeared to be playable but a slip in the outfield grass that had gotten a shower just 30 minutes before game time resulted in a devastating error for the High Life as the Brewers cleared the bases and took a 4-2 lead. All of this happened after Birchem made a great catch on a foul ball by the Brewer bench, which appeared to be the first out. The out was called but overturned, as the verdict was that Birchem was out of play. The rally started from there. It was one of many “strong disagreements” between team and umpire in this one.

Casey sat the High Life down in order in the 4^th, something he did in four of his seven innings. 

The biggest controversy happened in the Brewers’ half of the 5^th. After a Berinato RBI bloop made it 5-2, the Brew Crew had runners at second and third with one out. Morganelli hit a sac fly to center field, easily scoring Brendan Casey. However, Berinato also tagged from second base to third. The High Life, suspecting Berinato left early, appealed to second base, which they won. That out ended the inning. 

Only, really, the action was just starting.

In the chaos, the umps ruled that Casey’s run to make it 6-2 wouldn’t count. The Brewers argued, to no avail, that the run should count. The fracas created quite the debate amongst all in attendance at Moulton. The verdict: the Brewers were right this time. In this scenario, better known as a time play and not a force out, the run should count as it scored ahead of the appeal. 

See what you’re missing at Moulton?

Chris Casey gave his Brewers even more fuel by striking out the side in the bottom of the 5^th. 

Brendan Casey’s 2-RBI laser to center with the bags full in the 6^th scored two more to make it 7-2 and Chris Casey took it from there, closing out the wacky win without any more fanfare. 

The Brewers can win the 2024 Twi League championship tonight, 5:30 p.m. back at Moulton. A High Life victory tonight would extend the series to Sunday at 5 p.m. for Game 4.