By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — Two perennial playoff teams met with plenty of urgency last night at Moulton Park.
The Twi League’s shift from dog days to do-or-die games hits you faster than a foul ball coming out of the West Side Social Club.
Each team only gets 12 a summer after all. Around No. 6 or 7, the feeling of endless sunny days and sandlot ball still prevails. It’s not until you hit game No. 9 and take a peak at the standings for that urgency to return.
That’s where the Unknowns and High Life found themselves last night at Moulton: the two lowest teams in the standings each playing their 9th game of 2025.
Two teams who typically find themselves in the Twi postseason year in and year out, the Life and Orange put on a show as they battled to get a foot on the ladder back to the playoffs.
In the end, it was the Unknowns who came through in the clutch, erasing a 3-1 deficit with two runs to tie it in the 6th before walking it off in the 8th for a thrilling, 4-3 victory in extra innings.
Adam Chanley (2-for-3, 2RBI) was the hero in the 8th, bringing home Chris Alden from second on a base hit to start up the celebration as the Unknowns improved to 4-5 and a tie with the Loafers for 3rd place while the High Life fell to 2-7 and 1.5 games back of the 5th place Expos. Only the top four teams make the playoffs.
Chanley (4IP, 5H, 3BB, 3ER, 2K) also started for the Question Marks. He gave up 3 in the 1st but settled in before Tom Caron (4IP, 2H, 0BB, 0ER, 4K) took over in the 5th and shut out the Life the rest of the way.
Caleb Birchem (5.2IP, 8H, 2BB, 3ER, 3K) didn’t throw his absolute best game but he was more than solid, holding the Orange to 1 run through 5 and battling until he was lifted in the 6th with 2 outs after the Unknowns tied it.
Birchem started the game with a bat. His single was followed by a base hit from Joe Stackhouse before Chanley hit Danny Concessi to load the bases in a flash. Anthony Caracciolo followed with a walk and an RBI. Eric DiTonno grounded out but brought home Stackhouse to make it 2-0. An RBI knock from Billy Curran made it 3-0 but the Orange turned a double play after an attempted steal led to a double up at first following a nice catch by Maloney at second.
The Life returned the favor in the bottom half as shortstop Jake Vezga made his first of multiple impressive defensive plays by fielding a grounder to his left, stepping on second and throwing to first for two.
Chanley and Birchem settled in from there as both teams were held to a combined one run for the next 4.5 frames.
That run came on a Sean Alexander RBI single in the 2nd but Birchem escaped with the help of Concessi in centerfield. With two outs and the bases loaded, Caron hit a flare just over the infield but with Concessi playing in, he charged to give himself a chance and the ball held up just enough for him to make a basket catch in a full sprint, saving two runs and the lead in the process.
Unfortunately for the High Life, they never could quite capitalize on the momentum of their sound defense and pitching. They had two baserunners in the 3rd but Chanley ended the threat with a strikeout looking. In the 4th, the Life had runners at the corners but were tagged out at home on a fielder’s choice before a fly out finished it.
All that didn’t seem to matter as Birchem ended the Unknowns’ half of the 4th with a backwards K of his own on a nasty bender and Vezga got the first two outs of the 5th with another solo double play making a catch on a liner and firing to 1st to catch a runner leaning.
Caron gave his team a chance by holding the Life down in the 5th and 6th.
After a leadoff single in the bottom of the 6th, Maloney ripped a triple to the maple trees in center to make it 3-2 and later with two down, Chanley connected on his first clutch hit of the game, an RBI single to tie it.
Caron sat the Life down in order in the 7th before High Life reliever John Evangelista did the same in the bottom half featuring two strikeouts.
That led to a conversation with the umpires as the two teams decided about extra innings in an always fascinating Twi League ritual. The decision was never really a tough one. Darkness was on the way but not quite descending as both teams agreed to play one more.
Caron worked around a two-out base hit and stolen base by Concessi, getting Caracciolo on a come-backer to end it.
A tie felt inevitable when Evangelista picked up two quick outs on a strikeout and a groundout. With both teams changing from cleats to crocs, Alden stepped up and smacked a double to the gap.
With the pressure on, the Life decided to intentionally walk Geoff Eriksen, a Twi legend with more than a few clutch hits on his resume.
With the game on the line, Chanley locked in and lofted one into the outfield grass as Alden took off, rounded third and beat a throw home that was just off the mark to seal a huge victory.
The Unknowns and Loafers are now just a half-game up on the Expos (3-5-1) as it appears the three will be battling for the final two spots in the postseason, each with three games left. The Brewers (7-0) and Slappers (4-2-1) occupy the top two spots.
The Slappers take on the Loafers tonight and the Expos meet the Brewers tomorrow to finish up Week 6, both games, 6 p.m. at Moulton.