His team down four runs, Needham Post 14 Peter Cimini stepped to the plate in the third inning and with one crack of the bat brought the deficit to one.
But to Needham’s downfall, that home run would be the only timely hit it produced as Post 14 went on to lose 10-4 to Foxboro Post 93 Monday night at Needham High School.
“They don’t understand that they have to put the ball in play,” said Post 14 manager John Gallello. “They’re going for the big hit and they got to relax and just take what the pitcher gives them. And they should have been going to the opposite field, just take a nice easy swing, probably would have scored one or two runs and made a difference.”
With the defeat, Needham drops to 1-8 on the season. Meanwhile, Foxboro improves to 4-7.
“Our bats woke up finally,” said Post 93 skipper Bill Travers. “I’ve been waiting all year for this to happen. So it was nice to see Bobby Joyce come off the bench and get a triple in a close ball game. And Steven Wholley jumped in and got a nice two-out hit, which gave us a lift.”
Exemplifying deception in appearance, the 10-4 contest was actually a competitive 6-4 game until Post 14 hurler Brady McIntyre surrendered four runs in the top of the seventh inning. Pitching was also an issue to begin the game.
Needham starting pitcher Paul Vergara lasted only four batters before being replaced by Ryan Rizzo. He exited the game after allowing one tally and left two runners on base.
“He just didn’t have it. He couldn’t find the plate,” said Gallello.
Post 93 tallied another run on a Mitchell Goldenberg sacrifice fly to right, but then Rizzo forced Tom Notarangelo to fly out preventing any further damage.
In the bottom of the inning, Cimini (2-for-4, 4 RBI) singled to right driving in a run, but Brandon Fowler struck out consecutive batters stranding two base runners.
Foxboro cushioned its lead the next stanza with Steven Nagle smacking a two-run single and Aidan Farrell doubling in a run to give Post 93 the 5-1 lead.
Post 14 managed to cut the lead to 5-4 with Cimini’s aforementioned home run, but would not be able to come any closer as Post 93 went on to the 10-4 victory.
“We are not getting the key hit when we need it,” said Gallello. “We have guys on with no outs or one out, and we’re not getting the hit.”
