Warriors win instant classic against Melrose on final strikeout

One win away from Freedom Division title

Published in the May 23, 2019 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

MELROSE — For a moment, or maybe an eternity, Morelli Field couldn’t breathe.

There was a “ping,” a slicing star of tightly stitched cowhide screaming through a dark sky and a collective gasp.

Lining the fence on the first base side was a community of Warriors, some frozen in the moment, others coaxing the star to come closer, inviting it to hang out in foul territory.

On the third base line was a host of Red Raiders, begging it to stay fair.

On the mound was senior captain Gabe Sanders, facing just his third batter of the game in the bottom of the 7th inning. He was exactly the man Wakefield wanted on the mound at this moment.

At the plate was senior captain Harry Kelley. The cleanup hitter who had also pitched a fine game thus far for the home team. He was exactly the man Melrose wanted at the plate.

On the scoreboard was a 4 next to Wakefield, a 3 next to Melrose, two dots lit up in the outs section and all five ignited in the count section.

As the ball bounced inches foul, Morelli breathed again. A sigh of relief on the Lynn Fells Parkway; an amused shout of thwarted celebration on Tremont Street.

Sanders fired again, Kelley swung. The ball that was two inches wide of chalk to symbolize a Melrose win, was now enveloped by the mitt of catcher Anthony DeVito.

This one belonged to Wakefield.

“That’s the situation we want Gabe in,” said Wakefield head coach Kevin Canty. “He’s the best pitcher we got and he’s going to be in there for these situations to do what he does.”

The win on Tuesday was the fifth in a row for the Warriors who, with a 9-6 league record, have a chance to win the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division with a victory over Stoneham today. The Warriors are 8-1 against Freedom foes, their only loss coming against Melrose (8-6 league record) during the teams’ first meeting on May 1.

The environment was electric from the start.

Melrose took the lead in the bottom of the 1st, threatening to put Wakefield out of the game early with four straight base hits. After an outfield error on the third hit, Melrose was quickly up 2-0. With the bases later loaded and one out, Wakefield starter Chris Alden battled back and forced two groundouts to get out of the jam. The sophomore found his groove from there, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out eight from the 2nd through the 6th.

The Wakefield bats chipped away, getting a run back in the 2nd, tying it up in the 3rd and taking the lead in the 4th.

Chris Coombs (3 for 3) started a rally with a one-out single in the 2nd, stole two bases and scored on a sacrifice fly from DeVito.

The Warriors manufactured the tie in the 3rd after Sanders walked, stole second and flew into third on a pitch in the dirt. After Tommy Mottl walked with one out, he took off for second on a delayed steal and got himself into a pickle. Melrose took the out, and the bait, as Sanders slid home in the chaos to make it 2-2.

Coombs started the party again in the 4th with a one-out double to left. After Jack Ryan sacrificed him to third and DeVito walked, Zach Kent hit a sharp grounder to third and flew down the line, forcing a rushed throw that went awry, allowing Coombs to scamper home for a 3-2 lead.

It was a microcosm of the Warrior offense in 2019. They might not have any power hitters in the middle of the order, but Wakefield knows how to turn the heat up on a defense.

It’s a style of play that only works if you are completely committed to it. Sometimes Wakefield gets thrown out like in the 6th after Coombs’ third hit and a sac bunt, the junior was waved around on a deep grounder to second and Melrose made the play at the plate.

More often than not, that commitment makes it work. Like when Kent reached in the 7th, was advanced to second and waved home again in a nearly identical scenario. This time, Melrose couldn’t make the play and an error pushed the lead to 4-2.

“Our goal is to always put pressure on, if guys get thrown out, they get thrown out, that’s on me, I’ll take that,” said Canty. “But you force teams to make plays and if they make a mistake you can really try to capitalize like on the extra one that Zach (Kent) scored. You force a team to make a play you’re going to have a good chance of them making mistakes if you continually put pressure on them and that’s what we did all game.”

Behind Alden was phenomenal defense. DeVito got the third out in the 3rd inning on a laser throw to second to catch a runner trying to steal.

Coombs put an exclamation point on his terrific game with a web gem at second to end the 5th as he went full extension on a dive to stab a grounder, got to his feet and made the throw, sending the Wakefield bench to the moon in the process.

“That was phenomenal,” said Canty. “He had a great day for us; got a couple hits, scored a couple runs, made that play. He stepped up.”

After a leadoff single in the bottom of the 7th, Alden picked up a K after a great battle, but surrendered another base hit, forcing Canty to go to Sanders.

The situation was pressure packed from the jump and Sanders walked his first two batters, giving a run back to Melrose. A comeback grounder to the pitcher resulted in the second out coming on a force at home before the final duel resulted in a huge win for Wakefield.

Even after an emotional win like that, the Warriors enjoyed the moment for just a little bit before turning their attention towards accomplishing a great feat like winning the Freedom. Wakefield travels to Stoneham today at 4 p.m.

“Now it’s just practice tomorrow and go try to win the league on Thursday,” said Canty.