Rally in seventh, edge Arlington Trojans 6-5

BOBBY LOSANNO had a hit and scored a run in the Wakefield Merchants 6-5 walk-off win over the Arlington Trojans last night at Walsh Field. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

BOBBY LOSANNO had a hit and scored a run in the Wakefield Merchants 6-5 walk-off win over the Arlington Trojans last night at Walsh Field. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

Published in the July 30, 2015 edition

By DAN MARGARITA

WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Merchants took advantage of their last at bat to come away with a 6-5 walk-off win over the Arlington Trojans last night in an Intercity League game at Walsh Field.

One of the offensive stars for the Merchants was manager Dave Ellegood, who made a rare appearance as a player, scoring three runs in three plate appearances.

“It’s probably been a couple of years since I’ve played. Lucky me, now I can’t walk,” he joked, adding that manager Ellegood is not likely to call upon player Ellegood any time soon.

“I’m going back (to managing),” he noted.

Arlington scored first with two runs in the top of the third inning. With one out, David Cunningham singled and then after a fly out to center, Dan Kelly singled to right. Justin DeMarco followed with a double to left to score Cunningham and Kelly to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

The Merchants took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. With one out Ellegood knocked the first pitch to left for a single. Bobby Losanno and Scott Searles followed with singles to load the bases. Mike Sorrentino singled off the leg of Arlington pitcher Rich Cardillo that brought in Ellegood and Losanno to make it 2-2. After a pop to second, Mike Manoogian singled to bring in Searles and Sorrentino to give the Merchants a 4-2 edge but Manoogian was subsequently picked off first to end the inning.

The Trojans tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. Kyle Hood led off with a walk and then Cunningham followed with a single to put runners at the corners. After a strikeout, Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to center deep enough to allow Hood to tag up and score. DeMarco doubled and then Hunter Sleeper singled in Cunningham and Demarco to give Arlington a 5-4 lead.

The Merchants came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Ellegood led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and a passed ball. With the infield in, two ground balls kept Ellegood at third but Sorrentino then broke through with an infield single that scored Ellegood to tie the game up at 5-5.

“This team (Arlington) is playing pretty good. They battled back and took the lead 5-4 and we just kind of chipped away,” said Ellegood.

Ellegood was once again in the middle of things by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Leading off, Ellegood reached on an error and was followed by Losanno who also reached on an error. Searles was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sorrentino then singled to center to bring in Ellegood with the winning run.

“This is the first time we’ve used our home field advantage. (John) Russolillo came in and did a nice job in the sixth and seventh (and) shut them down. They have tough 3-4-5 hitters and we kind of just battled,” said Ellegood.