Pellegrini Leads Malden to Win Over Medford

At approximately 10 a.m. yesterday, Eastern Standard Time, hostilities resumed along the Medford-Malden border. The annual war begins again.

On the baseball diamond, that is.

The opening salvos between the two arch rivals have been exchanged. When it was all said and done, the Golden Tornadoes marched off the soggy field at Pine Banks with an 8-2 victory in hand. It was the first time Malden (3-1, 1-0 GBL) has earned a win over their Greater Boston League rivals in the border war since April 24, 2008.

The contest marked the opening of the league schedule for both squads.

“Medford versus Malden has always been a good rivalry,” said Malden head coach Kevin Carpenito. “It’s a Red Sox-Yankees type of deal. We hadn’t beaten them in the last two and a half years. It was a good win for us.”

Dakota Pellegrini—making his season debut—was in fine form on the hill for Malden, hurling 6.1 solid innings to pick up the win, while allowing just five hits and fanning nine. 

“Dakota did a good job,” Carpenito said. “That was his first start. It’s all about throwing strikes with him usually, because he throws hard enough.”

Pellegrini walked just two Medford batters during the game.

For the Mustangs (4-1, 0-1 GBL), the loss brings to an abrupt halt the four-game winning streak with which they opened their season. 

“I think the weather had us down; we really didn’t seem like we came with the intensity today that we have in the past four games,” said Medford head coach Mike Nestor. “That was a big loss in the GBL, but Malden, you’ve got to give them credit, they came to play today.”

The Golden Tornadoes’ bats weathered both the rainy conditions and the early effectiveness of Medford starting pitcher Chris Salvati, coming to life in the closing frames to put the matter beyond doubt.

Salvati worked five innings, striking out five, while allowing four earned runs on nine hits. The majority of the damage done against Salvati came in the Golden Tornadoes four-run fifth inning.

“He threw well,” Nestor said of Salvati’s outing. “It comes down to being able to catch and throw the ball ... the outfielders need to be more aggressive. We need to play with more intensity as well.”

Miscues and confusion colored the defeat for Medford, as several ill-timed errors—both in the field and on the base path—ultimately was a close game until the late innings.

Malden scraped together a run in the home half of the first, when catcher Marc Woodman (two doubles)  slapped a double to right center, and Austin Teal (two RBI) ripped a sharp grounder to third that vexed Danny Gilchrist, rolling beneath his glove and into left field to plate the run. Teal was gunned down trying to take second after the run scored to end the inning.

After allowing the unearned run, Salvati pitched well until the home half of the fifth, when he ran out of gas and allowed Malden to take a commanding 5-1 lead.

Pellegrini opened the bottom of the fifth with a double down the right field line, aiding his own cause, then Kevin Valley (two RBI) brought him in with an RBI single. After Valley stole second, Woodman plated him with a long double to right that rolled all the way to the wall before being corralled, and Malden led 3-0 with one out in the inning. Teal stepped into the box and collected his second RBI of the game, swatting a single to right-center field. Teal would score on a wild pitch two batter later, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 5-0 lead heading into the sixth.

The Mustangs got one back quickly in the top of the inning. Tom Flores reached on a dropped third strike, and Salvati knocked him across with a long double to right center. Pellegrini slammed the door on any thoughts of a Medford rally, recording the next two outs in order.

Malden would add three more in the sixth. 

Steve Scire smashed a double to left center for the Mustangs in the top of the seventh, and Tyler McLean brought him in with an RBI triple.

Medford plays Matignon this morning at Playstead Park, while Malden faces another tough GBL opponent on Thursday in the form of the Somerville Highlanders.

Carpenito is hoping yesterday’s win over Medford will be a confidence builder.

“Salvati’s a really good pitcher for Medford,” he said. “So to get a win against him will give us some confidence going into the GBL season.”