Pond Rats Can't Complete Rally

After falling behind by three runs, the Arlington Pond Rats appeared to be on the verge of a comeback against a top-notch Malden squad.

The Bambinos picked up the insurance they needed to protect their lead, scoring three runs in the seventh inning, to defeat Arlington, 9-5, Monday night at the Summer Street field in Arlington. 

Shortstop Joe Penta's two-run, two-out single in the seventh was the key hit for Malden, opening up a one-run game and giving the Bambinos an 8-5 lead.

"That little bloop single into center field killed us, killed us," lamented Arlington skipper Joe Robillard.  "He (relief pitcher Christian Riera) almost got out of the inning.  He struck out the first two guys, two big strikeouts … and they got the bloop hit. Killer."

The seventh wasn't the only big inning for the Bambinos. Malden broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run fourth inning, which included a two-run single by Kevin Church that made it a 6-3 game. 

The Pond Rats also encountered some misfortune in the inning. What appeared to be a routine ground ball out took a bad hop off the infield dirt and hit first baseman Shawn Power above his right eye, drawing blood and delaying the game for ten minutes. Power remained in the game, but the next Malden batter drove in a run with a single to put his team on top 4-3.

Arlington would respond with a single run in both the fifth and sixth innings to trim the deficit to one. David Largenton's RBI single in the fifth made it a two-run game, while Jonathan Mancini scored in the sixth after Malden botched a potential double-play ball off the bat of John Powers to cut the lead to 6-5.

"We were back within one and I thought we had a shot," said Robillard of his mindset heading into the final frame.

But after getting the leadoff man on base in the seventh, the next three Arlington batters were retired in order to end the game.

It was a night of missed opportunities for the Pond Rats (5-7), who left runners in scoring position to end the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

"We're not making enough breaks for ourselves," said Robillard. "We're not scoring enough runs. We'll just keep working at it. We've got to score some runs."

However, Robillard was not too down on his team's effort after the game, noting Malden's 10-2 record.

"Nothing shabby about that team," he said of Malden. "That's an excellent ball team."