JACK PENNACHIA pitched 4 innings, racking up 5 strikeouts and no walks while allowing just 2 hits and no earned runs in a win over Melrose on Wednesday. (Alicen Encarnacao Racca Photo)

By MARC GAGNE

WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High baseball team celebrated a wild win Wednesday after trailing Melrose 3-0 early in the game, then going on to beat the visitors decisively, 14-4. 

Strong pitching from two sophomores along with multiple runs scored and batted in by the senior captains helped the Warriors pull off the big victory.

Aiden Bligh was the starting pitcher and he did very well to keep his composure through two full innings when several mishaps led to three early runs for Melrose.  Bligh got the Warriors out of jams in both innings, striking out three in the process. Jack Pennachia took over on the mound to start the third and pitched through the end of the game, racking up five strikeouts and no walks. Pennachia only surrendered two hits and one run was scored against him due to errors. 

The Wakefield scoring got going in the bottom of the second inning when Melrose had a few mishaps of their own. Pennachia walked, Bligh was hit by a pitch and Pennachia advanced to third on a fielder’s choice by Cam DePrizio. DePrizio stole second base and Pennachia soon scored Wakefield’s first run on a passed ball. Andrew Nemec then hit a single to score DiPrizio.

The Warriors would go on to score three runs in each of the 3rd through 6th innings when the game ended early via the mercy rule after a 10-run lead was accumulated.  

In the third inning, senior captain Steven Woish drew a walk, Pennachia hit a bloop single and Deprizio walked. All three ended up scoring thanks to a Melrose throwing error and a hit from Jayvith Chea.

To start off the fourth inning, Charles Gagne hit a single and stole second base. Senior captain Frankie Leone reached base and Gagne scooted over to third. Then Gagne scored on a sacrifice fly by senior captain Tylor Roycroft. Pennachia got another hit and Nik Dhingra came in to run for him. Dhingra eventually made it all around the bases and ended up scoring on an errant throw from Melrose. 

Nemec reached first to start out the fifth inning for the Warriors and senior captain Jack Stromski came in to pinch run. Gagne reached base on an infield hit and Leone walked. The captains came through with more RBIs at this point when Roycroft’s hit scored both Stromski and Gagne and Woish’s hit scored Leone.

The Warriors were not through batting the ball around yet, though. Dhingra smacked a single to start the 6th inning, Leone walked and Roycroft reached base. Woish came through with even more RBIs when his hit scored Dhingra, Leone and Roycroft. At that point, the mercy rule was put into play and the game ended with Wakefield winning 14-4.

Coach Kevin Canty summed it up well saying, “We started out slow but we were able to come back and make plays when it really mattered. The team persevered despite the rough start but we still have things we can improve on. We need to continue to work on the little things to get to where we want to be.”  

Next up, the Warriors (3-1) will take on Freedom Division rival Stoneham (0-3) today, 4:15 p.m. at Walsh Field.