Wakefield outduels Royals in 2-1 victory
Published in the July 1, 2016 edition.
LEXINGTON — The Merchants got the proverbial monkey off their backs last night.
Wakefield snapped a nine game losing streak as it edged the Somerville Royals by a 2-1 score in an Intercity League game played at Lexington High School.
The Merchants are now 3-9-0 on the season and have won their first game since June 8 when they defeated the Arlington Trojans by an 8-2 score. Also two out of three Wakefield wins have come at expense of the Royals. The Merchants routed Somerville by a 10-0 score in the season opener.
Wakefield is currently 2-1 against the Royals (4-9-0) in the season series with one more game remaining. That contest is scheduled for Wednesday, July 13 at 6 p.m. at Walsh Field.
The story last night was that pitching performance of Joe Westerman (2-2). The right-hander went the distance giving up one run on three hits while striking out five and walking one.
Westerman outdueled Jonathan Richard (0-2) who pitched a pretty good game himself for the Royals. Richard went the distance giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits while striking out five and walking four.
Scott Searles led Wakefield at the plate as he carved out three hits.
Paul McGunigle was next with two hits and a run scored. Also earning hits were Joe Barry and Jonathan Pierce. Pierce’s hit drove in two runs.
Scoring the second run was John Davison.
Mike Sorrentino walked twice, while Louis Tarantino and Pierce also drew a free pass from Richard.
The Royals had just three hits but one of those was a solo home run by Paul Pollano. John Collette and Curtis Tirone each had a hit.
Adam Johnson stole a base for Somerville and Cal Carroll drew the lone walk surrendered by Westerman.
The Merchants return to Lexington High School tonight when they face a much tougher opener, the third Lexington Blue Sox. Game time is at 8 p.m.
