WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield baseball program celebrated its seniors last week with a number of thoughtful touches, and the team came away with an 8-0 victory against Northeast Metro Tech.
Banners, pictures galore and Little League hats adorned the fences at Walsh Field on May 19 for team captains Cam DePrizio, Andrew Nemec, and Jayvith Chea, along with Nicolo Labieniec, Charles Gagne and Marc Gagne. The stands were decorated, and the seniors’ jersey numbers were displayed on the outfield fence.
A special moment occurred after announcements, flowers and pictures, when the players for both teams lined up on the foul lines and Labieniec played a jazzy rendition of The Star Spangled Banner on the saxophone.
The Warriors started out the game against the Golden Knights with a run in the first inning when Nemec singled and stole a base and Dylan McDermott singled to drive Nemec home.
Two additional runs were tacked on in the third when Jack Pennacchia walked, McDermott got his second hit of the game, Aidan Bligh was hit by a pitch and Marc Gagne singled to score Pennacchia. Labieniec, who had a single in the second inning, hit a sacrifice fly next to score Bligh, and the Warriors were up 3-0.
Charles Gagne got the Warriors’ fourth run of the game when he walked, stole second and third, and scored on a grounder by Pennacchia.
Four additional runs came in the sixth inning for the Warriors when Nemec reached second base on an error, then advanced to third on a grounder by Pennacchia. McDermott hit Nemec in with a sacrifice fly. DePrizio walked and stole second and Bligh blasted a double to left field, scoring DePrizio. Marc Gagne followed up with his own double to score Bligh, and the Warriors were up 8-0.
Marc Gagne pitched six shutout innings, striking out six and allowing only a handful of hits. Jackson McGourty came in to close out the game in the 7th inning with a strikeout, a groundout, and there was also a heads-up, acrobatic catch behind the plate by Nemec which drew cheers from the crowd.
Coach Kevin Canty commented on the contributions the seniors have made to the baseball program.
“All six seniors have had a huge impact on our program. They have brought toughness, accountability and effort that has helped us to win league titles in three of the past four years. They have helped to set examples for all of our younger players to follow when it comes to how to play the game the right way and how to create a winning culture within our program.”
Following the senior game, the Warriors beat their next two opponents, Wilmington and Winthrop by scores of 10-0. The Wilmington game featured solid pitching by the three younger pitchers: Patrick Maloney, McGourty and Mike Yianacopolus, and plenty of offense from all of the Warriors, including a home run by Pennacchia.
Against Winthrop, Pennacchia went the distance and was supported again by explosive offense from the Warriors.
Wakefield went on to win Memorial Day Tournament games against Division 1 opponents Andover and Peabody on Saturday and Sunday, upping their record to 15-5 on the season. A story about this tournament will appear later this week while the team awaits its highly anticipated playoff seeding. The brackets will be released tomorrow. The Warriors were ranked No. 16 in the latest Div. 3 power rankings released on Friday. Their wins against two Division 1 playoff teams this weekend should improve that ranking. As long as they stay in the top 16, Wakefield will be hosting a first round tournament game.
