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Sports

Baseball: Foxboro Legion Wins at Home

Foxboro took the first of the four final games with an 8-2 win over Needham.

With four games left in the regular season, Foxboro has found themselves in must win territory as far as the postseason goes. Playing like they have to win, Foxboro took the first of the four final games with an 8-2 win over Needham.

From start to finish Foxboro was in control for most of the game. Tom Brady got the opening run for Foxboro off of a Nick Carafa single to make the score 1-0 after the first inning.

Foxboro pitcher Adam Blake looked on point as he shut down the Needham bats in the top of the second inning. Striking out the side, Blake pitched one of his best games of the season. He finished the complete game effort with five strikeouts, and no earned runs.

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“He (Blake) had his stuff tonight and that hurt,” said Needham coach John Gallello.

With Blake’s pitching behind them, Foxboro continued to slowly build a lead against Needham. A passed ball in bottom of the second inning allowed TJ Notarangelo to steal home plate and make it a 2-0 game.

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In the bottom of the third inning, Nick Carafa tripled to score Aiden Farrell and make it a 3-0 game. Pitching woes would continue to hurt Needham, as Carafa was able to steal home plate to increase the lead to four. It was a rough game for a Needham team that was at time giving Foxboro chances to get on base and score.

“We made some stupid mistakes,” said Gallello.

Down 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning, Needham finally got on the scoreboard with a run from Ryan Rizzo to get the lead back to four.

In the top of the sixth inning, Needham threatened again. Peter Cimini was able to find home plate off of a Paul Vergara single to cut the lead to three. With the tying run at the plate, catcher Mitch Goldenberg was able to get Foxboro out of the jam by picking off Brian McCann for the third and final out of the inning.

After shutting down Needham’s best chance of the game, Foxboro put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning. With more mistakes on Needham’s part and great hitting by Foxboro, Steve Nagle, Tom Brady and Aiden Farrell were all able to score to wrap up a 8-2 game for Foxboro.

It was the best start of the week that Foxboro could ask for. With great pitching and hitting, Foxboro played like a team that had something to prove.

“Going down the lineup everyone kinda swung the bat really well,” said Foxboro's manager Peter Guy. 

The performance by Blake also made the rest of the week easier as far as managing the pitchers go.

“He (Blake) pitched as good as you can ask him to pitch,” said Guy. “His pitch count was very low for a complete game. Saved the complete bullpen. We got three big games coming up, it saved the bullpen.”

Tom Brady led the way for Foxboro going 3-4 with 2 runs. Aiden Farrell went 2-4 with two runs and a RBI. Nick Carafa went 3-3 with four RBI and a run. TJ Notarangelo went 2-3 with a run.

For Needham, Peter Cimini went 2-3 with a run. Alex Spear went 1-4. Paul Vergara went 1-3.

With the win Foxboro improves to 6-9 while Needham is now 1-12-1. Next up for Needham is a matchup at Medfield. Game time is set for 5:45 on Thursday, July 7.

Foxboro will continue their fight to get into the playoffs with a match at Norfolk. Like Foxboro, Norfolk is fighting for the final playoff spot and a win is critical for both teams. Practically needing to win their remaining three games, Foxboro knows they have to play well but are keeping it simple.

“This isn’t a tight team. This team doesn’t get all tight. They know they gotta win but they’re just going out there and playing,” said Guy

Game time is set for 5:45 on Wednesday, July 6.

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