'Best of the Best': Graham's Blast Swings Momentum Back in Blue Sox Favor

The Lexington Blue Sox were in a tough spot Friday night, and then Dan Graham stepped to the plate.

The top-seeded Blue Sox had already dropped the front end of their doubleheader against the Reading Bulldogs, 3-2, to fall even in their best-of-five semifinal series, and, with Graham at the plate, they trailed again in game three, 2-1, with two outs and a man on third in the bottom of the fifth inning.

However, moments later Graham would stomp the plate and yell, “Let’s go!” at his awaiting teammates, as he crushed a ball on a 1-1 count to the electrical boxes past the center-field fence at for a go-ahead, two-run homer.

“We’ve had a lot of tremendous players here, a lot of great players, but he is the greatest of the great, the best of the best,” Blue Sox manager Rick DeAngelis said of his 35-year-old right fielder.

The Blue Sox would go on to win the game 5-2 to pull ahead to 2-1 in the series, with game four set for 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Reading High School.

Graham, , said he felt comfortable in the key spot.

“My approach doesn’t really change depending on the situation,” he said. “I’m just looking for a pitch that I can drive.”

Bulldogs skipper Matt Morrison visited pitcher Nick Kelley on the mound before Graham’s at bat.

“I told him, ‘Don’t give him anything over the plate,’” Morrison said, “and he hit his spot, he threw him a changeup down and in. Graham just earned it; you got to tip your cap.”

On the play, Graham knocked in center fielder Dan Capra, who doubled earlier in the inning. Capra actually played for Graham at Lowell High School before moving on to Eckerd College in Florida.

Capra, the team’s leadoff hitter, would provide the insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring teammates Tommy McKenna and Ryan Duff on a one-out double.

Left fielder Matt McEvoy had an RBI in the first inning to give the Blue Sox an early 1-0 lead before the Bulldogs went ahead in the top of the fifth on a two-run single by shortstop Doug Dellorfon.

Blue Sox starter Steve Bodnar went the distance, picking up the win while allowing two runs, four hits and one walk. Bodnar struck out 12 and didn’t allow a hit in five of his seven innings.

Kelley took the loss for the Bulldogs. He was pulled after the fifth inning in favor of reliever Dan Eisenberg, who gave up Capra’s two-run double.

In the front end of the doubleheader, the teams , at the beginning of extra innings, and Bulldogs catcher Zak Talis ended the game 15 minutes later with a walk-off single with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Blue Sox pitcher Tim Lahey received the loss.