Blue Sox Walk Off with Playoff Victory

On what's widely considered the unluckiest of days, the Lexington Blue Sox's fortunes didn't turn until the last possible minute. Down for much of Game 2 of their Intercity League semifinal series against the Wakefield Merchants, the Blue Sox appeared to succumb to the Friday the 13^th hex.

But some late-game heroics — courtesy of several well-placed bunts and a walk-off single from Ross Curley — gave Lexington a 2-1 victory and a 2-0 series lead over the Merchants.

The Blue Sox can lock up a spot in the ICL championship series with a win today at Wakefield's Walsh Field. Game 3 of the best-of-5 series got started at 2 p.m.

The Watertown Reds await an opponent in the finals. They won 5-4 on Friday to complete the sweep of the Andre Chiefs in the other semifinal series.

In Lexington, the Blue Sox's luck was determined by a black cat more so than a rabbit's foot. Hard-hit line drives found fielder's gloves and close pitches were more often than not called strikes.

"We were kicking ourselves all game," Curley said.

Everything changed in the seventh inning.

Lexington entered its final turn at bat trailing 1-0 and with little offense to show for the first six innings except for a few scattered base hits. Much of that was Wakefield starter Jarrod Marchesi's doing.

He was brilliant to that point, allowing five hits but just one baserunner past second. Marchesi finished with eight strikeouts.

"The kid who pitched tonight, Jarrod Marchesi, he's two things: he's a hell of a pitcher and he is a battler," Blue Sox manager Rick DeAngelis said. "No, he's three things. And he's smart. He put it all together and he is very difficult, if not impossible, to hit."

So the Blue Sox turned to small ball to make their own luck. Dan Capra, filling in for the injured Dan Graham in right field, dropped down a bunt that Wakefield third baseman Dale Crispin bobbled.

Eric Poling followed with another bunt single. This time the ball was hit hard enough to skip past a charging Crispin. Pete Frates moved both runners up a base with Lexington's third straight bunt.

"Dan Capra, he went up there and you have to credit him with great execution," DeAngelis said. "It was his idea to drop a bunt for a base hit, not mine. It shows you that he was in the baseball game and he's a smart kid."

Next up was Curley, who had gone hitless in Lexington's Game 1 victory. He smoked a grounder down the third-base line that hit off the bag and rolled into the outfield.

The fortuitous bounce was the Blue Sox's first break of the game and allowed Poling to score the winning run from second base.

"I was pumped," Curley, who played with Marchesi at Bentley, said. "I was hoping it would go into the outfield like it did and not straight up so Eric could score from second.

"It was my first hit all playoffs, so that was good. I was killing myself for a while there leaving a lot of guys on (base)."

Teammates mobbed Poling at home plate before turning their sights on Curley, who was credited with a two-run single.

"We did what we had to do," DeAngelis said. "If it took three bunts, it took three bunts."

Starting pitcher Marc Hewett picked up the victory in giving Lexington its second straight complete-game performance. He scattered six hits and allowed the Merchants' run on a double by Matt Russo in the second inning.

Hewett, who allowed just one baserunner after the fourth inning, struck out four and walked one.