BASEBALL (continued)

Wakefield nearly did so again as it entered the last of the seventh inning down 5-2. The Warriors got two runs to cut the lead to 5-4 and made thing interesting.
John Grossi led off the frame with a base hit to right field. Tom Sheerin then reached on an error at shortstop to mark the end of the day for starter Steve Keskinidis. Mike Andrews came on to relief the Spartan right-hander and got a ground ball out for the first out of the frame. Mike Powers then knocked a base hit into right field to score Grossi and Paul McGunigle laced a single past second base as Sheerin crossed the plate.
With runners on first and second, Andrews bore down and struck out the next two batters to end the game.
“We sure had our opportunities. It’s been the story of our season,” said Coach Dennis Bisso. “We had two guys on and we had scored a couple of runs. But we needed that big hit and didn’t get it. We were one or two hits away. We had two K’s to the end game. At least if we had made contact, anything could’ve happened.”
The Warriors banged out 11 hits and outhit Stoneham, 11-10. Grossi, Sheerin, Powers and Matt Reilly each had two hits for Wakefield.
Josh Orlowitz went the distance for the Warriors giving up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. The right-hander struck out six, walked one and hit a batter.
Keskinidis went six plus innings giving up four runs (none earned) on nine hits while striking out four and walking two.
Andrew pitched the final frame and earned the save. He gave up two hits and struck out two batters.
Sheerin and Dan O’Brien both singled to left field in the first inning but the Warriors were unable to score any runs. Wakefield did push across a run in the home half of the second inning. Orlowitz walked but was doubled off first base on a line drive back to Keskinidis by Chris McNall. Reilly reached on an error at first base and Kevin Patti singled to left field. On an errant throw to third base by left fielder Christian Keskinidis, Reilly scored.
Stoneham got a run back in the top of the third inning to knot the game at 1-1. Keskinidis was hit by a pitch, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly ball to left field by Ben Allen.
Wakefield regained the lead with another unearned run in the last of the third inning. Sheerin singled to left field but was thrown out trying to steal second base. O’Brien walked, Powers singled to center field and McGunigle reached on an error at third base by Jeff Fagan as O’Brien scored.
The Spartans plated two runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 5-2 advantage.
In the fourth, Bob Giordano singled to left field and Steve Keskinidis knocked in the run with a double to left field. The starting pitcher scored on a base hit to right-center field by Andrews.
Stoneham scored a single run in the fifth inning. Allen singled to left field but was forced at second base on a ground ball to shortstop. Giordano reached on an error by Mike Melanson at third base to put runners on the corners. Keskinidis helped his own cause once again with an RBI base hit to right field.
The Spartans scored their fifth run in the top of the sixth inning and that proved to be the game-winner. Anthony Annuiziatta walked and both Christian Keskinidis and Allen singled to load the bases. A sac-fly by Andrew Cann brought home by Annuiziatta.
Reilly doubled to left-center field to begin the fourth, but was thrown out trying to advance to third on a ground ball back to the pitcher. Grossi then singled up the middle but a fly ball to left field and a strike out end the frame.
Reilly had a one out base hit to left field in the sixth but a 6-4-3 double play turned by the Spartans ended the frame.
Wakefield did break through with a couple of runs in the last of the seventh inning. However its hopes of staging a dramatic comeback win came up just short.
“Stoneham got the hits when they had to and they had a couple of sac-flies,” said Bisso. “We made a couple of miscues in the infield. Orlowitz was able to bear down when he had to.”
Wakefield will try to get its seventh victory of the season when it faces Arlington this afternoon at 3:45 p.m. at Spy Pond Field.

BOYS LACROSSE (continued)

With a little over a minute left, the Warriors trailed, 9-8, when Alec Brown blasted a shot that hit the pipe. Also, at the end of the game Brown, an attack middy, grabbed a long stick and joined defenseman Brian Auld in double-teaming a ball carrier that forced a turnover and gave Wakefield one more chance to knot the score before Reading survived.
The star of the game, however, was probably sophomore goalie Alex Flynn, who stopped a career-high 17 shots during the upset bid.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Coach Geno Busa of Flynn’s work with admiration. “And with every save he made, he made the right pass on the clear. Alex played an outstanding game.”
No Warrior was able to score at will but working together, they were able to keep the Rockets, who have hit double figures seven times, from running away from them and to spread the ball around to get enough scoring.
Senior captain Brown and MJ Urbano each scored three times, with the Grinnell brothers, Matt and Brandon, supplying the other tallies. The locals also received yeoman efforts from the defenders, especially Brian McNulty, to compensate for Reading’s dominance on face-offs.
“Reading’s a very good team but we played them tough,” said Busa. “I can’t be disappointed with the effort level.”
The Warriors, unfortunately, took a step backward against Melrose, a team it should have, and needed to beat.
“We came out slowly the first quarter,” said Busa of a start that left the locals in a 3-0 hole. “You can’t get three-goal deficits and win games.”
The Warriors eventually knotted the score but were never able to take the lead. One thing hampering them were penalties, where the Red Raiders had eight man-ups to their three, and scored on the first two.
The game was tight after the initial 3-0 Melrose lead and the Warriors had closed the gap to 6-5 at halftime. Unfortunately, the Red Raiders were able to give Brown fits, as the Warriors’ leading scorer scored only once on 15 shots. Urbano was also heavily covered and, although he managed to get off 22 shots, many weren’t clean and a few missed the mark. But he still led the Warriors with four goals.
In the end the Warriors outshot the Red Raiders by a huge margin, which didn’t reflect in the final score.
“Their goalie made a ton of saves,” said Busa. “We beat them in every category but taking penalties. Their goalie played very well but they look forward to playing us and we didn’t have the intensity to match them.
Brandon Grinnell had two goals and James McAuliffe and Max Frank one each to round out Wakefield’s scoring. Defensively, the Warriors stemmed Melrose’s top two shooters but struggled with the rest of the offense.
The Warriors still had a shot at pulling out the win in the end but Brown’s shot as time ran out went wide.
The loss was Wakefield’s fourth by two or fewer goals, showing how close this team still is to have been an unbeaten tourney team. The Warriors still need four wins to get in but have two weak opponents on the horizon and can play with everyone they have left.
The one they’d like to win, however, is the game tomorrow at Wilmington (4 p.m. at the Woburn Street School) in which they take on a 10-1 team that has scored in double figures every game but the one loss to Arlington. The first time they met, the Wildcats barely survived Wakefield in a 10-9 win.