Rally Bid Falls Short for Lexington Post 38

Seven innings simply weren't enough for the Lexington Post 38 American Legion baseball team to complete its comeback against Concord Post 158.

After going down on a grand slam in the first inning on Tuesday, the Blue Sox scored single runs in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings to keep things interesting. But Jake Anzer, the fourth Post 158 pitcher, slammed the door on the rally with a perfect seventh inning, sealing a 5-4 win for the home team at Concord's Emerson Playground.

"We fought our way back," Lexington coach Matt Lawlor said, "but (Concord) made the plays when they had to make the plays."

For a time, a Lexington (7-4) comeback seemed assured.

Matt Wentzel started things with a solo home run in the second inning to get his team on the scoreboard. It was the second of three homers to land on Everett Street beyond the left-center field fence.

Leadoff man Tommy McKenna singled and later scored on a Justin Silvestro groundout in the third inning, while Will Marcal sparked the visitors' dugout with an inside-the-park home run in the fifth.

Marcal, who also walked twice, smacked a Brian Ruhlman pitch to the deepest part of the park in center field. Ruhlman, a left-handed reliever, was brought in to deal with the heart of Lexington's order – which contains four lefties, including Marcal.

That brought the Blue Sox within one at 4-3.

But the decisive blow to the Lexington march came in the bottom of the fifth. Concord (6-8) leadoff man Dylan Katz-Wicks (3-for-3, RBI, two runs) belted a solo home run to left field, giving Post 158 all the cushion it would need.

Lexington got its final run in the sixth inning when Nick Murray hit a double to the left field gap to score McKenna, who reached on a walk.

Chris Shaw was 3-for-4 with three singles, but was stranded each time. Lexington left a total of eight runners on base.

Wentzel went the first five innings for Lexington. He settled down after the rough first to scatter five hits, strike out six and walk three. Jason Tzannes ran into some trouble in the seventh with two walks and a hit allowed, but didn't surrender a run.

"Matt Wentzel fought back, didn't give up and actually ended up pitching a pretty good game after (the grand slam)," Lawlor said. "He didn't give up and neither did the team."

For Concord, the win came after a much-needed rest. Tuesday was Post 158's first time on the diamond since playing a stretch of four games in as many nights last week.

"This was the absolute antithesis of what you saw on Thursday," Concord coach John Morrissey said, comparing it to Concord's last time out, a 9-2 loss to Lowell in which his team fell apart late in the game. "A 100-degree night, we didn't get let anyone get tired and we kept giving them different looks."

Putting its feet up over the holiday weekend showed immediate results for Post 158. Katz-Wicks led the game off with a single, followed by walks to Brendan Canavan and Pete Castrichini. Ben Price brought them all home on the first pitch he saw with a towering grand slam that cleared the fence in left-center.

It was the perfect start to the game following the four days off.

"It was huge, by the fourth game last week it was brutal – everybody's legs were sore, everybody was tired," Katz-Wicks said. "The break, especially July 4 weekend, we got to relax, hang out with family and friends. I think it just put everybody in the mindset that summertime we're here to have fun and just come out and win ballgames."

In all, Morrissey used four pitchers to battle the Lexington order and the melting heat.

"Obviously, fatigue set in early tonight," the coach said. "Having the four off-days coming in and the two on the other side of this set up perfectly to use everybody. If ever there was a game to do it, and there aren't many in the course of a summer, this was it. Against a good team it worked in our favor tonight."

Starter Ryan Kelt lasted just 2 1/3 with two runs allowed on four hits, three strikeouts and two walks. He was followed to the mound by Brandon Napolitano (1 2/3ip, no runs on no hits and a walk) and Ruhlman (2ip, two runs, two hits and a walk). Anzer was perfect in the seventh for the save.

Lexington returns to the field Wednesday at North Chelmsford, while Concord will enjoy a little more rest. Post 158 plays again Friday at Malden.