Weekly Sports Roundup, July 9-17

Another balmy summer week, another full schedule of local sports action. Here’s the rundown from the diamonds, fields and courts of Wakefield. 

Intercity Baseball League 

The Wakefield Merchants’ week began and ended against the league-leading Lexington Blue Sox, and the Merchants (13-5) slipped a bit off the pace, dropping both contests.

Facing Lexington at Walsh Field, on July 10, the score was tied at 1-1 heading into the fourth inning, when the Blue Sox’ Dan Capra socked a triple to spark a four-run rally, as Lexington went on to take a 6-3 win. Andy Hartung plated all three Merchants runs, while moundsman Darren Bisso (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season.

Next for the Merchants was a duel with the Watertown Reds on July 12, and Wakefield would rebound promptly and decisively from the loss to Lexington, throttling the Reds, 10-0, behind a shutout win from James Ramsey (3-1) and a team-wide offensive onslaught. Joe Papa (2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBIs) and Hartung (2-for-2, 2 RBIs, SB) led the charge for Wakefield at the plate, while Scott Searles (1-for-4), Lorenzo Papa (1-for-3), Mike Sorrentino (1-for-4), John Davison (1-for-2) and Brooks Townsend (1-for-4) all plated runs for the Merchants. Jason Roth was 3-for-4 with a triple.

The Mooney Dental Tanners were the next visitors to Walsh Field on July 13, and after being blanked, 6-0, by Wakefield’s Stephen Cool (3-0), are surely in no hurry to drop in again. Cool allowed just three hits, while working a complete game and fanning five. Offensively, it was Sorrentino (2-for-2) leading the pack with a pair of RBIs and stolen bases. Searles (3B, RBI) and Roth (2B, RBI) weighed in on the matter as well.

July 14 saw Wakefield travel to Tufts University to face the Andre Chiefs, and the Merchants walked away on top, scraping out a 3-1 win in a low-scoring affair. The Chiefs held a slender one run lead heading into the top of the fifth, but Wakefield’s bats came to life with one out and the bases empty. Steve Langone walked and Lorenzo Papa singled to chase Andre starter Rob Machado. However, Hartung rolled out the red carpet to welcome reliever Mike DiCato and swatted a long triple to left to knock in two runs, and give Wakefield the lead. Dale Crispin singled home Hartung to give the Merchants their 3-1 margin of victory.

Kevin Flight (1-0) earned the win on the mound, working seven innings, allowing three hits and one run.The Merchants ended the week the same way it began: with a loss to Lexington. The Blue Sox took a 3-0 win after Matt Karis thoroughly stymied the Wakefield batters on July 15.The Merchants welcome the struggling Medford Americans to Walsh Field on July 17. 

American Legion 

Wakefield Post 63 went 2-4 last week to end the season, recording wins over Newton on July 9, and North Chelmsford on July 15. Steve Pacheco’s squad ends the regular season at 8-10, good enough for second place in District 5C, and will begin play in the District 5 double-elimination playoffs this week.

Bay State Games Ice Hockey

Wakefield High forward Kevin Doherty netted a hat-trick for Northeast in the semifinals against Coastal on July 10, putting his squad through to the gold medal game. Northeast would finish with the silver, though, as they lost to to Metro, 5-3, in the final.

Little League Baseball 

A pair of Wakefield Little League squads advanced to the All-Star play finals this week, scoring wins in the District 13 semifinals.

The Wakefield National 11-12 year old Major Little League All-Stars pulled out a 4-3 win against North Reading on July 14 at the last possible moment. With the bases loaded and one out in the home half of the final inning, Steve Melanson stepped into the batter’s box with a chance to send his team home as walk-off winners. Facing North Reading’s Andrew Pawlak, Melanson quickly watched three balls sail by, and held all the cards with a 3-0 count. Pawlak recovered to record two strikes, but Melanson sent a 3-2 pitch into centerfield to score Anthony Funicella with Wakefield’s winning run.

Wakefield faces Stoneham July 16 in the final, which is scheduled for 5pm at Woburn’s Weafer Park. The Wakefield American 10-11 year old Major Little League Baseball All-Stars didn’t require nearly as much drama to advance to the District 13 finals as their older counterparts, and duly dispatched Woburn National, 13-2, in a mercy rule-shortened contest at Front Nasella Field.Bobby Pearl pitched a strong game for the victors, while Wakefield’s attack was provided by the entire lineup. A seven-run fifth inning sealed Woburn’s fate, and Wakefield will face North Reading in the final on July 16 at Weafer Park at 2pm. 

Eastern Basketball League 

The Wakefield entering ninth grade boys team played three times last week and recorded three wins. Wakefield defeated Masco, 44-35, on July 6 at Wenham, then turned around and lay a savage 62-17 beating on the Bobcats in Beverly on the 11th. On July 15, Wakefield beat the Wilmington Blue, 47-36, at Galvin Middle School.

The entering eighth grade boys split four games last week. Wakefield began the week with a 60-44 win over MA Elite at Galvin. They next dropped a heartbreaker against North Andover, falling 57-56 in Wenham on July 11 in the first leg of a doubleheader. The second leg saw Wakefield record a 51-38 win over the Bobcats. Lynnfield ended the week on a sour note for Wakefield, handing them a 50-48 loss at Galvin on July 14. 

Take the Lake 5K 

The Take the Lake 5K was contested at Wakefield’s Lake Quannapowitt on July 10, with the top spot going to Reading’s Daniel Princic, who crossed the finish line at 15:28.7, while Alexandro Moreira of Melrose was second with a time of 15:44.3. Christopher Chapruet, 19, of Danvers placed third at 16:10.1, William Feldman of Boston was fourth at 16:21.0 and Lowell’s Matt Sullivan took the fifth spot at 16:45.0. Wakefield native Bobby Bligh was sixth with a time of 17:21.0 

Mystic Runners Lake Q 5K 

Held on July 13, the weekly race around Lake Quannapowitt was won by Dave Corbett of Stoneham, who finished in 19:05, while another Stoneham resident, Brian Daly, was right behind at 19:19. Arlington’s John Kelly was third at 19:29, while Brett Kowtowski of Stoneham was fourth at 19:46. Nathaniel Smith of Lynnfield rounded out the top five with a time of 21:04. Pat Dooling was the swiftest Wakefield harrier on the day, finishing seventh at 22:15, while Nicholas Iebba took 11th place with a mark of 23:01.