Wildcats Fall On Opening Day After Redmen Rally

It wasn't exactly an offensive explosion but four runs in the fifth inning was enough to carry the baseball team to a 4-3 road win over Wilmington High on Opening Day.

Matt Skotz had two of Tewksbury's four hits, including a two-run single in the first. Cam Oliveira added a sacrifice fly and Dom Rosado was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run.

John Chotkowski was strong on the mound for the Redmen, going the distance, while scattering seven hits and striking out nine.

Wilmington's Tim Woods pitched a strong game, allowing just the four hits. Woods was cruising along until running into trouble in the fifth.

Phil Lentini and Cole Peffer had two hits each to pace the Wildcat offense.

The Wildcats had some excellent scoring chances, even after falling behind, 4-3. They put the first two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth when Lentini singled and Pothier followed with a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line. Chotkowski picked up a huge strikeout and first baseman Zack DiRocco made a brilliant diving catch of a line drive down the line, landing on the bag to double off Pothier and end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Woods led off by roping a double to the fence in left but when he tried to stretch it to a triple, he was gunned down by a perfect Tewksbury relay from Allyn Hood to Rosado to Eric Torres.