Mustangs Put Down Knights, 3-1
Gilchrist Lifts Medford Over Southie with 9 Strike-Outs
Story Updated 8:00AM, Thursday, April 15, 2010
Video courtesy MHS-TV 15
– Allison Goldsberry
There was no bottom of the seventh inning for the second time this week for the varsity baseball team.
Junior pitcher Danny Gilchrist led the Mustangs in their 3-1 victory over South Boston at Playstead Park on Wednesday afternoon.
Gilchrist struck out nine Knights, including three alone in the first inning. It’s his first win of the season.
“Danny pitched with confidence, attacked the strike zone, and constantly worked ahead of each batter. If Danny continues to progress and use this outing as a starting point to build off of, we should have the true ace that we need to go deep into the MIAA tournament,” said Head Coach Nick Tucci.
Senior Andrew Waldrip drove in two of Medford’s runs with a deep but very high shot to rightfield that easily could have been a fly out had a Southie player caught the ball. Senior captain Danny Gunn and Gilchrist came into score on that play. Gunn got on base with a line to center and Gilchrist walked.
Gunn, the Mustangs’ catcher, brought in Medford’s third and final run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Senior captain Kyle Heath came home on Gunn’s play. Heath got on base with a line drive to left field.
Senior Andrew Pompeo, who came in to pinch hit in the fourth, pulled off some great base running, stealing second and getting to third on a loose ball, but his teammates were not able to help bring him home.
Despite the victory, Coach Tucci was not 100% satisfied with the team’s offensive effort.
“What was troubling for us was that we did not have many quality at bats yesterday. There are some players in our lineup that are pressing and taking themselves out of their approach at the plate. We need to stick with the approach of being patiently aggressive and play smart baseball,” said Tucci.
Coach Tucci said pitching and defense “won the ballgame.”
“It will take a more balanced attack (defense and offense combined) to accomplish the lofty goal of a GBL championship that we want to bring back to Medford High School,” said Tucci.
Medford now has three wins and one loss. They head to Southie on Friday.
In junior varsity baseball news, the JV Mustangs kept their winning ways alive with a solid 9-0 victory over South Boston at Hickey Park on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Head JV Coach Vin Macone, Steve Center picked up his second win of the season and Chris Hayes finished the game in relief by striking out every batter he faced.
The offense was led by Chris Buccieri, who got his first hit as a Mustang baseball player while scoring two runs.
The next JV game will be played Friday, April 16 at 4PM at South Boston.