By DAN PAWLOWSKI
BILLERICA — As all legendary plays in sports, it happened in slow motion.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the 6th inning, No. 13 Wakefield and No. 4 Shawsheen Tech tied at 4-4, Charles Gagne inexplicably, unbelievably broke for home during the windup of a pitch to Aidan Bligh. Those not in attendance at Shawsheen Tech on Wednesday afternoon can see a replay by watching the end of the Sandlot when Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez stole home clean. It was identical, Hollywood script and all.
Gagne’s jump was perfect, arriving at the plate nearly at the same time as the ball and sliding under the mitt of Shawsheen’s shocked catcher, setting off an epic celebration amongst Warriors and fans alike as Wakefield had somehow erased a 4-0 deficit to the previously undefeated Rams and taken a 5-4 lead.
“He went out of the windup on his first pitch to Cam (DePrizio) and then again to Aidan (Bligh),” said head coach Kevin Canty. “I went, ‘Charles you can get this.’ And he watched it and said, ‘I can get it.’”
“You don’t get a chance at those plays often but when you do it’s awesome,” said Chuck “The Jet” Gagne. “That was the best experience of my sports career, just so fun. We saw it, made the decision and got the job done.”
The Warriors held onto that lead for the next two innings thanks in large part to Jack Pennacchia who entered the game in the 4th and shut out the Rams in 4 innings, allowing just 2 hits and no walks while striking out 4, handing Shawsheen their first loss of the season and sending Wakefield to the Div. 3 state quarterfinals.
Shawsheen put up a run in the 1st but Wakefield starter Marc Gagne (3IP, 4H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 4K) battled to get out of trouble in a tense first two frames, limiting damage until the Rams put up 3 more in the 3rd and took a 4-0 lead into the 4th, creating a palpable confidence in the crowd. After all, the Rams hadn’t lost on their home field since April 14…2024 — a 23-game winning streak.
The Warriors erased that confidence in a 4-run 4th to tie it.
Bligh led off with double to center and Nik Dhingra followed with a base hit to advance Bligh. Marc Gagne got the job done with a sac fly to put Wakefield on the board and after a perfect hit-and-run with a Dhingra steal and a single through the recently vacated second base hole by Jayvith Chea, the Warriors had runners at the corners again for Charles Gagne who connected on an RBI single up the middle to make it 4-2.
With runners on first and second and one out, Andrew Nemec stepped up in a big spot and delivered, launching a triple to the fence in right-center field and tying the game at 4-4, officially turning the tables.
“It was an unreal feeling,” said Nemec referencing the entire win more than his clutch hit. “I told the boys after the game, ‘beating a 21-0 team and going against all the odds, we stuck together and that’s what makes us a family.’”
Pennacchia entered the game in the bottom of the 4th and proceeded to strike out the first batter on three pitches. It felt like a statement: these Warriors were on a mission.
“Coming into this game, I couldn’t think of a scenario where we wouldn’t come out as winners,” said Pennacchia. “Even when we were down, we were all up against the fence, cheering each other on, having a good time. There was no doubt in my mind that we would come back.”
All that confidence, even when Shawsheen’s coaches took the bat out of Pennacchia’s hands after he smoked a double to right in the 1st inning. Wakefield’s masher out of the 3-hole was intentionally walked in the 4th and would be again with Wakefield threatening in the 6th. As they had all game, the Warriors stepped up as a team to get it done.
“We knew the longer this game went that we had the ability to put the pressure on,” said Canty. “Jack was outstanding on the mound. Marc had good stuff too but they hit some balls. Give (Shawsheen) credit.”
Pennacchia sat the Rams down in order in the 5th and Charles Gagne started his fateful journey around the bags in the 6th with a leadoff walk. Just to get warmed up, Gagne easily swiped second and Nemec moved him to 3rd on a groundout. After Pennacchia was walked, Dylan McDermott drew a walk to load the bags with one out. DePrizio popped up for the second out, setting up Gagne’s wild scamper home to make it 5-4.
Pennacchia again struck out the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 6th, the first out of his second 1,2,3 inning of the day.
“I’ve became very close with the seniors this year and I’m just trying to do all I can to help them make a playoff,” said Pennacchia, a sentiment all the underclassmen would share about their group of six seniors, who just so happened had senior prom to look forward to after this incredible win.
But Shawsheen was certainly still dancing down 5-4 in the bottom of the 7th as the home fans started to stir again despite Pennacchia’s dominance to this point. That noise grew on a leadoff infield single on a tough play at short. The winning, potential walk-off run was now strolling to the plate.
In the game’s second-most exciting play, the Warriors set up a pick-off play, all but Marc Gagne at first base charging home as Shawsheen squared to bunt, causing confusion for the runner at first who froze as Pennacchia spun and fired a pickoff throw to Gagne who put the tag down for a huge first out.
“Our goal is to be prepared for anything,” said Canty. “When that kid got on, it was an immediate call for our pickoff series and it worked out but if it didn’t we had other things ready so I’m just super proud of these guys for being ready to execute all that stuff.”
Pennacchia worked around a two-out single, getting the final out on a lineout to second, officially sending a family of Warriors to the Elite 8.
“Every game is a team effort, and we just have to keep that mindset,” said Charles Gagne. “We know we can beat anyone we just have to work together and show it.”
“We want to get three more,” added Canty. “They were 21-0 for a reason, they’re a good team but we know we can play with good teams and we can beat good teams as we’ve done for the past few weeks so we’re excited to try and keep the momentum going and see what we can do in the quarterfinals.”
As it turned out, Wakefield was ready to beat another good team. The Warriors defeated No. 5 Bishop Stang 4-0 on the road yesterday behind a complete game shutout from sophomore Patrick Maloney. A full story will appear at a later date.
Wakefield (18-5) will now head to the Div. 3 Final Four where they will play No. 9 North Reading (19-4), date, time and location to be announced as of press time.