Published in the July 26, 2018 edition.
WAKEFIELD — The bats that have been silent most of the Twi season, came alive Wednesday night at Moulton Park as the Unknowns broke out the lumber and hammered the Slappers 11-2.
Brandon Panarese, Geoff Eriksen, and Dave Lehman each had two hits and Brett Maloney contributed an inside the park grand slam to crank up the offense. Brendan Cobb went the distance, striking out five for his first win of the season.
The Slappers drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning. Guido singled up the middle and Ryan DiBenedetto reached on an infield error. Dave Papagni bounced a hit through the middle to score Guido and make it 1-0.
The Orange finally solved Slappers hurler DiBenedetto in the top of the third inning. With one out, Panarese ripped a ball through the infield. Eriksen then launched a bomb to the right field tree that rattled around allowing Panarese to score and Eriksen to slide into third with a triple. Chad Dwyer walked and Graham Robertson reached on an infield single. After a strikeout, Kevin “Sanchez” Murray roped a single to left scoring Dwyer. Cobb walked to load the bases. Maloney then blasted a long drive over the right fielders head, emptying the bases for a grand slam and making the score 6-1.
The Slappers came back in the fourth inning. Andrew Patti led off and rocked a double to deep center field. Unknown’s killer Nick Porter continued his assault against the Orange by dropping a double down the right field line, scoring Patti. But that would be it for the Slappers’ scoring chances as Cobb mowed them down for the next three innings.
The Unknowns would tack on a run in the fifth inning. Hot-hitting Lehman smoked a double to left and eventually scored on a Cobb groundout. In the sixth inning, The Orange rang up four more runs on hits by Bryan Butt, Dwyer, and a triple from Brian Eriksen.
The Unknowns keep their slim Twi-League playoff hopes going tomorrow night at Moulton Park vs the Loafers at 6 p.m. The Brewers and High Life meet tonight.
