Wakefield baseball picks up huge road win over Saugus

Warriors play in Peabody’s Geanoulis Tournament this weekend

Published in the May 25, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

SAUGUS — It wasn’t exactly a must-win, but the Wakefield High baseball team played that way yesterday in Saugus as they put together a great game in all phases to beat the Sachems, 4-2, in an exciting game at World Series Park.

The Warriors evened their record up at 8-8 and now need to win two out of their final five games to qualify for the D2N state tournament.

Wakefield was prepared to turn to senior starter Robert Shaw on the mound, but needed to pull an audible late.

“We dealt with a little adversity pregame,” said head coach Kevin Canty. “It was supposed to be Shaw on the mound but he had some soreness so we went to Gabe (Sanders) and he was outstanding today.”

Sanders and the Warriors stepped up in a difficult environment on senior day for Saugus and simply went out and got this one. Sanders pitched a complete game scattering five hits and fanning six.

The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st after an RBI base hit from co-captain Brendan Coughlin.

Sanders kept the Sachems off the board in the bottom of the 1st as he picked up his defense after an error led to a runners at first and third situation with two outs. Sanders, like he would do in both the 2nd and 7th innings, picked up a big strikeout to end the inning.

Wakefield’s defense was terrific the rest of the game, especially in the 3rd when Saugus threatened with one out and runners at second and third. A double was hit to deep center which would score the runner from third, but a great all-senior relay from centerfielder Tyler Pugsley to second baseman Cole Kraus to catcher Coughlin, cut down the runner trying to score from second.

“The relay from “Pugs” to Kraus to keep them at one there that was big,” said Canty. “‘Cough’ held on like he does every time there is a play at the plate. That was a bad pitch call on my part but we overcame it, made the play and limited the damage.”

Wakefield’s offense built on that momentum by regaining the lead in the top of the 4th. Cal Tryder (2-for-3) started a two-out rally with his second well-hit single of the day. Kraus (2-for-2) singled to keep the inning alive and Sanders came through with an RBI base knock to left that made it 2-1 Wakefield.

Saugus came right back in the bottom half of the inning and tied it on an infield single, but the Warriors once again ended the inning with a flair for the dramatic as Coughlin threw out a runner trying to steal second.

The back-and-forth battle continued in the 5th when Wakefield took the lead again on a base hit from Chris Coombs, his second of three singles on the day, to make it 3-2 Warriors.

After Sanders hit a batter to start the bottom half of the 5th, and the runner stole second, the Warriors executed a perfect play to get an out. The Saugus batter lined up to bunt as both Jake Nardone at first and Robbie Fossett at third sprinted toward the plate, bringing all the attention, including the runner at second, to the hitter. Sanders then spun and picked off the runner at second.

Wakefield got some insurance in the 6th when Kraus started another two-out rally by hitting a double to left. Sanders’ second RBI single of the day scored Kraus. Kraus had a big day for Wakefield, doing a little bit of everything from defense, to sacrifice bunts, to scoring runs.

“Cole definitely had a great day for us,” said Canty. “That’s what you need this time of year, you need seniors to come through. If the seniors keep coming through like that we are going to be ok through the last five games.”

During a tense bottom of the 7th, Sanders was determined to finish this one off as he quieted down a loud Saugus dugout with two strikeouts, including a called strike three to emphatically end the game for the Warriors.

Wakefield will get ready to play in the James Geanoulis Tournament at Peabody High School this weekend. The Warriors will play Peabody on Saturday at 6:30, and will play on Sunday at a time to be determined depending on how they do against the Tanners.

As Wakefield looks for a playoff berth, they can technically qualify by finishing second in the Freedom Division, but the focus is to get to 10 as soon as possible.

“There is a chance of getting in by coming in 2nd in the league; something has to fall our way on Wednesday and we have to win Thursday but let’s just get the next two and make life a lot easier,” said Canty.