Melrose Baseball Edged by Malden Again

The Malden High baseball team saw off a late rally by Melrose to capture the first annual Mayor’s Cup yesterday at Pine Banks Park.

The Golden Tornadoes held on to earn a 4-3 victory in the non-league tilt thanks to a strong outing from Dakota Pellegrini and some clutch hitting by junior Ricky Mendez.

The Golden Tornadoes earned a season sweep over Melrose, having also beat them 5-3 on April 16. Both teams share tenancy at Pine Banks, so Malden was the nominal home side yesterday.

Pellegrini worked six and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out five, and Mendez was 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs.

Mendez came up big for Malden despite dealing with the effects of a nagging arm injury.

“Ricardo Mendez was coming off a little arm problem,” said Malden head coach Kevin Carpenito. “He was in the field and then we had to take him out. We moved him into the cleanup spot and he had two big hits for us today.”

Johnny Wilcox and Marc Woodman also plated runs for Malden (6-6, 2-3 GBL), while Bradley Applin faced one batter, after working a complete game on Thursday, to pick up the save.

On the Red Raiders (9-4, 8-2 ML) side of the equation, Dan Riordan was 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run, while Mark Bailey and Matt Fanikos also collected RBIs.

Senior Ben Ouellette got the nod on the hill, and responded with a strong complete-game performance. The right-hander went six innings, allowing four runs and fanning two.

“Ben did an excellent job,” said Melrose head coach Bill Hirschfeld. “Give him credit for going the distance like that. He did a nice job.”

The game was big for both teams, as Malden and Melrose both lost their last time out, and both are chasing spots in the MIAA Tournament.

“It’s huge,” Carpenito said of the victory. “I told the guys halfway through the game that we’re scrapping for the tournament now. It gets us back to even, so hopefully we can hover around .500 and maybe win two of three next week.”

With the score 4-2 in favor of Malden heading into the top of the sixth, Riordan stepped to the plate and cracked a solo shot over the fence in left center to inject some further drama into then late innings, making the score 4-3. Pellegrini was able to get out of the inning without any further damage done, however, and Melrose was down to its final three outs.

The Red Raiders got a pair of base runners on in the seventh, and up stepped Riordan, just the man Melrose fans would want at the plate in that situation. 

Carpenito opted to turn to Applin to retire the dangerous hitter, and the Golden Tornadoes ace answered the bell, getting Riordan to ground out to third to end the game.

“Just like I said to the guys after the game,” said Hirschfield. “One hit away. That’s basically what it comes down to, so we just move on ... We just get back on track. We were doing fine until this point, so we just get back on track.”

Melrose faces a pair of tough Middlesex League opponents next week in Woburn and Belmont, while Malden gets back to Greater Boston League play with a showdown against Somerville on Monday.