Louis Hunt's game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning capped off a resilient effort by Arlington, as Post 39 (7-7) topped Billerica (10-5), 12-11, in a back and forth game Friday Night at Spy Pond Field in Arlington.
Tied at 11 heading into the seventh, Arlington loaded the bases before Hunt poked a two-out single over the outstretched glove of Billerica first baseman John Ripa, bringing home Rob Caggiano with the winning run.
"Just enough, I guess," said Hunt when asked how much he got of the pitch. "When it first went up in the air, I kind of laughed coming out of the box because I knew it was going over his head. We'll take it any way we can get it."
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Hunt's hit prevented a tie between the two squads, as the umpires almost called the game in the previous inning due to darkness and were set to end the game after the seventh.
"It was very, very hard to see," said Hunt of his final at bat. "I couldn't tell you what pitch it was to be honest."
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Hunt's heroics would not have ended the game if not for some clutch defense by Arlington in the top of the seventh.
Derek Cole started the inning with a leadoff triple and Billerica had a golden opportunity to grab the lead. George Lehner, who homered for Billerica earlier in the game, hit what appeared to be the go-ahead sacrifice fly, but right fielder Dave Cunningham threw a strike to Caggiano, the pitcher, who relayed the ball home to catcher Rob Shea in time to cut down the go-ahead run.
"Dave's got a good strong arm out there and he knew he had to hit the cutoff man," said Arlington manager Joe Sancinito. "He did what he had to do in that situation and that's all you can ask. Make the catch, hit the cutoff man, and hope for the best after that."
Billerica jumped out to an early 5-2 lead and led 8-5 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before Arlington exploded for five runs, highlighted by Sean Gustin's two-run double, to take a 10-8 lead.
Billerica answered back with three runs in the sixth to reclaim the lead, 11-10. Cunningham drove in the tying run on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the frame for Arlington.
"We've been playing a lot of games like that where we're see-sawing back and forth with the other teams," said Sancinito. "The guys stay upbeat and they keep the same approach, get on base, move the guys over. It's good to finally win one. We've been on the wrong end of those type of games a couple times, the one-run games."
