Post 45's skid continues against Wakefield

As the old saying goes: when it rains, it pours. That adage certainly held true for Wakefield Post 63 last night, as a four-run fourth inning propelled them to a 5-2 victory over Medford Post 45 in District 5C American Legion action at Playstead Park. Medford saw its losing streak stretched to six games with the loss.

Dylan Dennis (Malden Catholic) took the hill for Wakefield, and went the distance, fanning eight while surrendering four hits to pick up the win.

“We didn’t hit the ball well the first three innings, but (Dennis) pitched a fantastic game,” said Wakefield manager Steve Pacheco. “He’s got that potential. He throws the ball well, he’s had a couple of bad breaks the first few games of the year, we haven’t played much defense behind him. We did enough tonight, and he shut them down. He was great,”

Post 45 (3-8) sent Chris Salvati (Medford High) to the mound, and the recently graduated moundsman started off strong, but never really recovered after allowing Post 63’s breakthrough fourth inning. Salvati was lifted for Pat Duffy (Medford High) with two outs in the fifth, and took the loss, letting up five runs on nine hits.

“I thought Salvati pitched very well,” said Medford manager Ryan Kozul. “He had one bad inning. I didn’t think the balls were hit all that hard, some little bleeders got through ... We ran into some bad luck and that’s what happens.”

Wakefield’s fourth inning onslaught began when Nick Roberto (Malden Catholic) stroked a double to left, and Connor O’Brien followed with a hot smash up the middle that would have drove in Roberto, were it not for the efforts of second baseman Paul Covelle (Malden Catholic), who was able to knock the ball down and keep it from getting past the infield. Post 63 (5-6) wouldn’t rue the missed opportunity for long, as Pete Franchi (Lynnfield High) singled and brought in Roberto with the games first run. O’Brien scored on an error, and Dennis drew a walk, giving Wakefield runners at first and second with one out. Tyler McGrail (Wakefield High) doubled home Franchi and Paul Ardizzoni (Melrose High) plated Dennis with a double to give Post 63 a 4-0 lead.

“This is the strongest lineup batting wise that we’ve been able to field all season long,” Pacheco said. (The win) gets us one game closer to .500, which with a team of a lot of inexperienced players, first-year legion players, we’ll take that.”

Medford answered immediately, as Covelle ripped a two-out double to drive in James McConville (St. John’s Prep) and Kyle Heath (Medford High, 2010) in the home half of the fourth to cut Wakefield’s lead in half.

That was as close as Post 45 would get, however, as Wakefield pushed across an insurance run in the top of the fifth when Brett Barbati (Melrose High) plated Tyler Finnegan (Austin Prep) with an RBI single.

Medford got a pair of men on base in the bottom of the seventh, trailing 5-2, but Dennis reached back and shut the door, sealing the win for Wakefield.

“This game was kind of the story of the last two weeks,” said Kozul. “We’ve lost six in a row, but they’ve all been competitive games. We’ve hit the ball hard, just right at people, and tonight was the same thing.

“Just one bad inning, that’s what did us in.”

McGrail (2-for-3, RBI) and Ardizzoni (2-for-2, RBI) paced Post 63’s attack, while Barbati and Franchi also collected an RBI apiece. Medford was led by Covelle, who was 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs and two doubles, while Duffy and John Lavoie both singled.

Both squads are facing marathon stretches this coming week, as Post 63 faces Somerville tomorrow to kick off a season-ending stretch that will see them play seven times in six days. Medford takes on Ashland on Saturday, and ends the season with six games in five days.