By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Twi League’s championship series is set as the top-seeded Brewers and 3rd-seeded Loafers will meet to determine the 2023 Twi League title starting tonight, 5:45 p.m. at Moulton Field.
Both the Brewers and Loafers swept their first round, best-of-three series. The Brew Crew topped the Highlife while the Loafers beat the Slappers.
The Brewers, who have won the championship in each of the last two seasons, punched their ticket to the Finals on Thursday night while the Loafers got the job done before the weekend with a 10-2 game two win on Friday.
During a season of rainstorms and makeup games, the Loaf and Slap got some good weather on Friday night.
The Slappers, shorthanded as they were with a bunch of typical starters not around, got off to a great start thanks to Jack Ryan’s leadoff double and Jake Baressi’s RBI single up the middle for a 1-0 lead.
Loafer starter Luke Ickes (7IP, 8H, 6K, 2BB, 2ER) got out of a one-out, runners at the corners jam with a popup and a fielder’s choice.
The Loaf wasted no time in getting that run back and setting the tone for the rest of the game when they plated six runs in their half of the 1st thanks to some timely hits and untimely Slapper errors.
A Ben Waldrip double evened the game and a blooper from Taylor Robinson gave the Loafers the lead for good.
A Matt Russo sac fly and later an error at the plate pushed it to 4-1. After the Loaf loaded the bags on another error and a walk, James Beaton’s second hit of the inning was a clutch, two-out, two-RBI ground-rule double before the 1st finally ended with the Loafers well on their way to the Finals with a 6-1 lead.
Overall, the Loaf had six players with multiple hits (14 total hits) including Beaton (3-for-4, 2RBI), Dom Sorrentino (2-for-4, RBI), Waldrip (2-for-3, 2RBI, 2BB), Taylor Robinson (2-for-4, 2RBI, BB), Jared Pavey (3-for-3, BB) and Justin Sencabaugh (2-for-4).
Ickes sat the Slap down in order in the 2nd and got around back-to-back base hits by Ryan DiBenedetto and Baressi in the 3rd with a 6-4-3 double play perfectly executed by Pavey, Robinson and Waldrip.
The Loaf added two more in the 3rd when Sencabaugh and Beaton singled while Jordan Fauci walked to load the bases. A walk to Waldrip made it 7-1 and an RBI knock by Robinson made it 8-1.
Ickes continued to cruise in the 4th while the Loaf added single runs in both the 4th and 5th.
The Slappers, as is always the case, didn’t leave Moulton without a bunch of laughs. The 2020 champs and last season’s runners-up will get to work on some rigorous offseason training and reset for next summer.
Meanwhile, the Loafers will return to the Twi League Finals for the first time since 2019 when they won the championship with a 3-1 series victory over the Highlife.
The Brewers will be going for their third consecutive Twi title. It will be their fourth straight appearance in the Finals.
After tonight’s game one, game two of the Finals is scheduled for Wednesday while game three will be on Friday. If necessary, game four would be Sunday while game five would be next Monday. All games (except for Sunday’s 5 p.m. start) will take place at 5:45 p.m. at Moulton.