Weekly Sports Roundup, August 22-29

This past week was a very quiet one in Wakefield as far as sports were concerned, as the summer winds down and the fall high school season draws closer with each passing  day. That being said, the landscape wasn’t completely desolate. Wakefield’s Intercity League franchise, the Merchants, saw its bid for a league title stall agonizingly close to the goal, losing the decisive fifth game of the semifinal series with the Andre Chiefs after rallying to stretch the best-of-five battle to its limit. Elsewhere, the Mystic Runners Lake Q 5K took place, as usual, at beautiful Lake Quannapowitt.

Intercity League
The Merchants dropped the first two games of a best-of-five affair against the Andre Chiefs before circling the wagons and capturing the next two contests, forcing a winner-take-all showdown on August 21, with a ticket to the ICL Championship in the balance. Unfortunately for Wakefield, the Chiefs had enough about themselves to stop the bleeding and avoid losing three straight, as they captured the decisive game, 5-3, and sent the Merchants home for the season with their goal of reaching the final unfulfilled.

Wakefield sent Kevin Flight to the hill to start game five, after the veteran ICL moundsman threw only 11.1 innings of work during the regular season, featuring mostly in a relief capacity. Opposing Flight was Tim Dunphy, who entered the deciding game with two playoff wins under his belt already. The first two innings saw the two hurlers in total control, and the scoreless tie was only broken by the Chiefs in the top of the third, when Jeff Bercume and Mike Baillargeon swatted back-to-back singles, joining Nick Leva in loading the bases, and Vinny Pennell got between a Flight offering and the catcher’s mitt, forcing in the Chiefs first run.

The game remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth, when the Chiefs struck for two more, stretching their lead to 3-0. Mike Andre stroked a one-out double to right—and was replaced by pinch-runner Paul Yanakopulos—ending Flight’s outing, in favor of Conor Mahon. Mike DiCato was the first batter Mahon faced, and the Chiefs’ slugger said hello with a long triple to right-center, plating Yanakopulos, and Mike Barbati followed with an RBI single, making it 3-0 in favor of the Chiefs.

The Chiefs would add two more in the top of the seventh, and take a 5-0 lead into the bottom half of the frame. The Merchants posted three runs, but fell short in their comeback bid, and ended the year with a 5-3 loss. Brooks Townsend, Scott Searles and Mike Sorrentino all collected RBIs for the Merchants, but their efforts went for naught.

Mystic Runners Lake Q 5K
The weekly road race around Wakefield’s Lake Quannapowitt took place on August 24, and the top harrier was Greg Mastrangelo of Middleton. The 26-year-old pulled down the top spot with a time of 20.48, while Lynnfield’s Nathaniel Smith placed second at 21.46. Stoneham resident David Smelser came in third at 21.55, and Chas Gallant, of North Reading, finished fourth at 21.59. Reading’s Don Davis rounded out the top five with a time of 22.03. Nicholas Iebba was the fastest Wakefieldian on the day, finishing seventh at 22.19, while Methuen’s Gwen x was the fastest female, placing 11th with a time of 23.55.