Nine-run 3rd sends Loafers to 11-8 victory over the High Life

Playoff matchups are set entering last day of regular season

JAMES BEATON hit a 3-run homer in the Loafers’ 9-run 3rd inning to help spark an 11-8 victory over the High Life at Walsh Field last night. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

WAKEFIELD — Mathematically speaking, it didn’t matter. 

But this is baseball in the summer. Who cares about math?

The Loafers walked out onto Walsh Field last night with one goal: just play ball. 

Their best-case scenario — winning their final two games — would still mean a tie in the standings with the Expos. The ‘Spos have the tiebreaker, winning the season series against the Loaf 2-1. The 4^th and final spot in the playoffs was already Expo blue, making an 8-7 loss to the Unknowns at Sullivan last night also irrelevant, you know, mathematically speaking.  

Even still, the Loafers made sure to make a few more memories in 2024. They racked up a total of 11 hits in 4 innings with eight different batters collecting a knock. A 9-run 3^rd inning did most of the damage, turning a close, 2-1 game into an 11-1 blowout.

The High Life, who will finish in either 2^nd or 3^rd in the standings depending on what happens in the two final regular season games tonight, tuned up their bats for the playoffs by putting up 7 in the top of the 5^th, making it an 11-8 game. With darkness descending on Walsh, the game was called as the Loaf improved to 4-7 and the Life fell to 5-5-1.

The Loafers had three batters with 2 hits. James Beaton (HR, 3-RBI), Benny Waldrip (RBI) and Jared Pavey all went 2-for-3. 

Loafer starter Luke Ickes was terrific through 4 innings, scattering 4 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 5 and walking 2. He lost control in the 5^th, but was able to get one final strikeout to end the game. 

The Loaf started it up early in the 1^st. Beaton led off with a single. An infield single from Pavey led to a throwing error which allowed Beaton to score. Pavey got to third on a wild pitch and a groundout from Taylor Robinson got another run across. 

LUKE ICKES held the High Life to one run in the first 4 innings before the Life exploded for 7 in the 5th. Ickes still escaped with the win as the Loafers picked up their 4th win of the summer. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

The High Life got one back in the 3^rd with a two-out rally. Anthony Caracciolo, who was called on to eat some innings as a starter for the Life in this one, singled and Eric DiTonno made it 2-1 with an RBI double to the wall in right-center. Ickes got a strikeout to end the threat with his team still in the lead.

The Loafers knocked Caracciolo out of the game in the 3^rd. After Pavey set the table with another single, Robinson hit an RBI double to the same spot as DiTonno minutes earlier to make it 3-1. A Benny Waldrip double off the wall kept the line moving and Dom Sorrentino hit a sac fly for a 4-1 advantage. An Andy Waldrip singled was followed up by multiple errors from the High Life who threw it around and allowed two more to cross the plate for a 7-1 Loaf lead. Nate Ickes walked and Don Dubuque singled to set up Beaton, who pulled a 3-run dinger to right, just around the foul pole. Benny Waldrip later had an RBI single before the inning finally ended with the Loafers up 11-1.

JARED PAVEY follows through on one of his two singles last night at Walsh. The Twi veteran reached base in 3 of his 4 at-bats to help set the tone in the Loaf’s 11-8 win. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

The biggest hit in the Life’s 7-run 5^th belonged to catcher Bill Curran who cleared the bases with a 3-run double to make it 11-5. Danny Concessi’s double later brought home 2 and he scampered across the plate on an infield single by Richie Custodio to make it 11-8 before Ickes finally got out of it with his 6^th K of the night.

The Loafers will end their season tonight back at Walsh against the Unknowns while the High Life will head to Moulton to meet the first-place Brewers. Both games start at 5:45 p.m.

The Twi League semifinal matchups are already set. The High Life and Unknowns are tied in the standings with the Life holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The two will meet in the semifinals next week with tonight’s games only determining which team will be seeded No. 2 or No. 3.  

The other semifinal matchup will feature the No. 1 Brewers against the No. 4 Expos. The Brewers, champs of the Twi in each of the last three seasons, brought a perfect 10-0 record to Moulton last night (results not available at press time). The up-and-coming Expos (4-6-2) will be back in the postseason for the first time since 2019. 

Dates and times for next week’s best-of-three semifinals are to be determined.