Wakefield Beats Reading 3-1
Lexington – Wakefield won its second consecutive game and became the third visiting team to win on the Day of Baseball with a 3-1 win over Reading on Sunday afternoon.
The Merchants were the third straight visiting team to score in the first inning. Dylan Koster and Ryan Collins had back-to-back one out singles to put Merchants on first and second. After the second out Brendan Barry singled to left scoring Koster and it was 1-0 Wakefield.
Wakefield starter Dominic Nardone held the Bulldogs hitless for the first 3 1/3 innings before Zak Tallis had an infield single in the fourth. Nardone had walked three Bulldogs, but left two runners in scoring position in the first two innings.
The game stayed at 1-0 through the fifth before Wakefield added an insurance run in the top of the sixth.
Koster reached on error to start the rally. He moved to second on a wild pitch and took third on a ground out to third by Ryan Collins to place himself 90 feet away with one out. Mike Sorrentino hit a perfectly placed ball between the first and second basemen into right field to bring home Koster.
Reading broke through in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1. With one out Talis reached on his second infield single to short. A walk to Mason Campbell and Andrew Moccia reaching on an error loaded the bases against Nardone. He walked Luke Hall, for the second time, on five pitches and it was 2-1 Wakefield. Spencer Meyer took over on the hill for the Merchants and ended the threat getting Darren Hartwell to popup to first for the final out.
Ben Gottesman, who had entered the game in the sixth for Reading starter Alex Mandus, struck out the first two batters in the seventh. Bobby Losanno doubled, his second hit of the game, into the leftfield corner. Koster made it 3-1 with an run-scoring single to center to plate Losanno.
Meyer retired the Bulldogs in order in the seventh to earn his first save of the season.
Nardone evened his mark at 1-1 going five innings, only giving up three hits, walked seven, and struck out five.
Koster, who came into the game hitting .704 (not a typo!), had two hits, scored twice and drive in a run, having a role in all three Merchants runs. He extended his hitting streak to nine straight games to open the season.
Mandus took the loss for Reading dropping to 1-1 on the season. In five innings he gave up five hits, one run, walked one, and struck out three.
Losanno and Brendan Barry each had two hits for Wakefield.
The Merchants are now 5-3-1 for 11 points and moved into fourth place. The win snapped a six game losing streak on the Day of Baseball for Wakefield. That stretch included five consecutive losses to the Chiefs.
Reading is now 3-4-1 for 7 points on the season in 7th place.
Rain led to the fourth game of the day between Somerville and Watertown being suspended in the bottom of the second. The Reds had a 1-0 lead and were up in the bottom of the second inning.
