Edges Melrose in eight innings
TYLER PUGSLEY pitched seven shutout innings last night for the Townies A team in their game against Melrose. The right-hander gave up four hits and walked one. Pugsley got a no decision as Wakefield pulled out a 1-0 triumph over Melrose in the eighth inning. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the July 29, 2015 edition
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Townies 15-16 year old baseball team has been struggling to score runs lately and last night was no different. However a strong pitching performance by Tyler Pugsley and solid defense allowed Wakefield to pull out a 1-0 victory in eight innings over Melrose last night in an A division game in the Lou Tompkins All Star Baseball League at Walsh Field.
The Townies are now 6-8 on the season.
Pugsley pitched seven innings allowing four hits and walking only one. Pugsley threw strikes consistently all night and was able to pitch out of a second and third with no out situation in the fifth inning by inducing a ground ball to second with the infield drawn in, a pop out to first, and a fly to center to get out of the jam.
Mark Benedetto pitched the eighth inning to get the win and made a great defensive play to end the inning and preserve the shutout. In the top of the eighth, Melrose’s lead off hitter walked and stole second. The next batter grounded to shortstop and the runner moved to third. Melrose attempted a suicide squeeze bunt play which the Melrose batter popped up. Benedetto charged the pop up and made a diving catch and then proceeded to jump to his feet and double off the Melrose runner to preserve the scoreless tie.
The Melrose starter also pitched a great game allowing only one hit while walking four. Wakefield only got one runner to third base until the eighth. In the eighth inning, Jordan Fauci led off with a lined single back up the middle. Benedetto followed with a fly to left center field that the Melrose center fielder almost made another great catch as he had all night and that allowed Wakefield to put runners on first and second with no outs. Devin Shaw was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Rob Shaw walked to score the game winning run.
The win allowed the Townies to snap a three-game losing streak. Wakefield lost to the Boston Astros 1 team by a 13-0 tally on Thursday, July 23 at Marcella Field. Wakefield dropped an 8-0 game to Brookline on Sunday at Warren Field. On Monday night, the Townies lost to the Beverly Panthers by an 8-1 score at Cooney Field.
Wakefield will play its final two home games tonight and Friday at Sullivan Park with both contest being at 5:45 p.m. Tonight the Townies take on Cambridge and on Friday they host Reading.
On Saturday, Wakefield takes on the North End Dodgers at 10 a.m. at Puopolo Field and then wraps up the regular season on Sunday against Melrose at 7:30 p.m. at Morelli Field. Also, a rescheduled game for Saturday afternoon at Cambridge has been canceled with Cambridge earning a 7-0 victory.
