Hard to Handle

It was the play that ended the season for the baseball team. But according to head coach Aldo Caira, it wasn’t the play that cost them the game.

The No. 12 Wildcats played sparkling defense for most of their opening round tilt against Beverly in the North Division 2 playoffs on Friday. But in the home half of the seventh inning, the fifth-seeded Panthers walked off with the win after a game-ending infield error.

Caira pointed to a key bases loaded squander in the fourth inning of a 2-2 game as a turning point, as well as the team’s inability to notch a big hit throughout.

“That’s just a tough play,” said Caira. “That’s not the play that lost us the game. If we had that extra hit, it could have been a different type of game.”

Starting pitcher Sean Hanley pitched the complete game defeat, and worked out of several jams during the contest. The Wildcats’ defense spun four double plays on the afternoon,

Shortstop Vinny Scifo turned in a sparkling defensive effort himself to help keep several Beverly runners from scoring.

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the fourth, Scifo tracked down a ball deep in the third base hole. After he scooped up the ball he threw across his body to retire the runner at first base. He then gunned down the next batter on a routine grounder.

Scifo and Hanley mounted the only Wilmington offense on the day, as each knocked a solo home run over the fence. 

“We had some hits we just didn’t get some hits when we needed them,” said Cairo. “This was a game we could have won. The makeup of this team, a couple freshmen, a few sophomores and only three seniors leaving at the end of the year, it bodes will for this team next year.”