Somehow, despite being down a run in what could have been the final inning of the summer, you had the feeling Stanton Insurance had the Moose Club right where it wanted it in the top of the seventh last night at Jake Dennis Field.
Up 1-0 in the best-of-three series after a 5-0 victory in Game 1 Friday night, Moose Club was clinging to a 3-2 lead with three outs to go. Unfortunately for Moose, Stanton's first three batters of the inning happened to be among the three most accomplished young players in the city with Waltham High three-year standouts Don Hopkins, Steve Hopkins and Chaz Agrillo due up in succession.
``We knew they were going to have to come to them again,'' said Stanton coach Chuck Agrillo of the anticipation. ``They hadn't done much previous to that. But we thought we had a good chance there. They are three tough outs - three of the toughest outs I've ever seen.''
As it turned out, Moose couldn't get any of the three out as back-to-back walks on 3-2 counts - plus and an error and two stolen bases - had Don Hopkins on third and Steve Hopkins on second for Agrillo, who tied the game with a single. But what the big three started, the rest of the lineup finished as Stanton went on to score four more runs in the frame for a 7-3 triumph that forces a winner-take-all Game 3 tonight (Jake Dennis Field, 7:30).
``We knew it was coming up,'' said Moose coach Kris King of the heart of the order. ``We didn't want to give up free passes to them. We were hoping to make them earn it more and, unfortunately, that didn't happen.''
While walks and misplays allowed Stanton to tie it, the hard-earned runs followed later in the frame as Keith Roop whacked and RBI single to right field and Bryan Crane and Harry Metallides nailed back-to-back RBI doubles to complete the five-run outburst.
``I don't want to overlook the rest of the lineup,'' said Coach Agrillo. ``They had some big hits in that inning and they had the big hits at the beginning of the game too.''
Most of the biggest hits early on came in the first when Stanton took a 1-0 lead and Moose followed with three in the bottom of the inning.
For Stanton, Don Hopkins walked, moved up on a stolen base and ground out and scored on an Agrillo RBI single. But Moose answered in a hurry as Nick Chen singled, Charlie O'Connell reached on an error, Cameron Owens hit an RBI single, Tyler Higgins blasted an RBI double and Alex Owens made it 3-1 with an RBI ground out.
Both teams had chances to add to the run totals, but both pitchers - Moose's Higgins and Stanton's Steve Hopkins - got the key outs when needed. Higgins got out of a big jam in the fourth when Stanton had two on with one out and Higgins got consecutive ground outs off the bats of Steve Hopkins and Agrillo.
It was still 3-1 in the top of the fifth when Stanton got one run back. John McGrath walked and was erased on a Crane fielder's choice. But a walk to Metallides, a Dan Uberti single and an error brought Crane home for a 3-2 game before Chen averted further damage with a running catch ranging into the hole from shortstop.
Moose Club reliever Cameron Owens came in for the top of the sixth and struck out the side, but that merely set the stage for Stanton's big comeback.
Steve Hopkins settled down after a tough start and cruised from there. He only one hit from the second inning on and retired seven batters in a row before Chen's harmless two-out single in the bottom of the seventh. Coach Agrillo said he will go with Roop on the mound tonight with Don Hopkins - whom Agrillo said was a surprise start at shortstop last night after missing the previous few games with a lingering shoulder injury - in line to pitch in relief.
Coach King, who was hoping Higgins could end the unlikely run to the title for the fifth seed last night, was more specific about what his squad had to do to pull out the victory tonight than who would be on the mound leading the charge.
``In a short playoff series like this we don't have as many arms as we'd like,'' he said. ``We're going to hope to get out early like we have been and keep the bats going - not go to sleep like we did tonight. It's all about scoring runs. Hopefully we'll be able to make some things happen more on the basepaths too.''
