Warriors need wins against Reading, Manchester-Essex to qualify
ERICH HICKEY lines up a fly ball against Wilmington at Walsh Field. Hickey had a great day at the plate going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Published in the June 1, 2018 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The WMHS baseball team had a unique opportunity yesterday to qualify for the Div. 2 North Tournament. On the surface, it appeared the Warriors (8-11) needed two more wins to get 10 which would make them automatically qualify, but a win against the Wildcats would have accomplished the same feat since it would give Wakefield second-place in the Freedom Division.
Wilmington set the tone in the 1st inning with three runs and Wakefield chipped away and hung in until the Wildcats got another three in the 6th to push the lead to 9-3.
The loss makes it very clear for the Warriors: win the final two games of the season, and they are in.
Wakefield turned to Gabe Sanders on the mound who has been fantastic all season on the hill, at shortstop and at the plate, but today wasn’t his day as Wilmington strung together multiple tough at-bats and put the pressure on the defense early.
“We need to get through a first inning,” said Wakefield head coach Kevin Canty. “As long as that happens, we can settle ourselves in and we’ll be ok. We’re not a team that usually plays well from behind, because it takes away our aggressiveness.”
Instead, it was the Wildcats who were settled in at Walsh, although the Warriors certainly put up a fight.
Sanders led off with a single and Tyler Pugsley sent a shot to left that couldn’t be handled as the senior centerfielder ended up at second. Brendan Coughlin later drove in Sanders with a sacrifice fly. That inning started a trend of the Warrior offense chipping away but never scoring more than one run an inning. That’s called limiting the damage, and it’s another point of emphasis for the Wakefield defense during the last two games of the year.
Ryan Donald came in to pitch in the 2nd and although he would settle in later in the game, the Wildcats picked up two more RBI hits to make it 5-1.
Cal Tryder led off with a base hit in the bottom of the 2nd. After a Donald sacrifice bunt put Tryder in scoring position, Erich Hickey ripped an RBI single up the middle to make it 5-2.
Donald pitched a scoreless 3rd, and Wakefield scratched together another run in the bottom half. Coughlin walked, took second on a delayed steal and scored on an infield single from Tryder.
Wakefield missed a good opportunity in the 4th after Donald shut down the Wildcats again in the top half of the inning. Wilmington got the next run in the 5th to make it 6-3 and broke the game open in the 6th with three more to make it 9-3.
Hickey picked up a double to score Cole Kraus in the 6th, and Wakefield made another excellent relay (Pugsley, to Nardone, to Coughlin) to cut down a runner trying to score in the 7th. Mike McKean did a nice job of shutting down the Wildcats in the 6th and the 7th, but in the end, it wasn’t enough as Wilmington left town with a win and second place finish in the Freedom Division.
The missed opportunity is certainly disappointing, but the tournament is still out there for the Warriors.
They travel to Reading today to face a Rockets team who just clinched a playoff spot last night with a 7-2 triumph over Beverly to get their 10th win of the season. Reading started fast and got to 8-2 early, but some difficult games against a tough Liberty Division cooled them off later in the season. Reading is a quality team, playing at home, but the Warriors will be playing for something more in this one. Wakefield’s final game of the season is Sunday, 12 p.m. at Walsh Field against Manchester-Essex. The stakes are high and the pressure is on. The Warriors know what they need to do.
“We know what our position is now,” said Canty. “We have to get the next two.”
