Bizarre walk-off victory for Yates Gas in thriller
BY JOSH GALVIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Apitcher's duel it was as Yates Gas battled Wolfhound to a 3-2 extra inning thriller at the Nantucket High School field in Wednesday's Rec League Softball game of the week. It took just one inning of extra play for Yates Gas to break the 2-2 tie and walk off the field to the tune of a 3-2 victory evening its record at 4-4. With the loss, Wolfhound drops to 3-3 on the season.

MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent Richard Congdon keeps his eye on the ball for Wolfhound, but it wasn't enough to stop a late Yates Gas surge.

Wolfhound expended all its offensive clout for the day in the top half of the third inning to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Yates answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning but didn't tie the score until the sixth inning when shortstop Chris McCarthy knocked home pitcher Jay Metcalfe with one out. Third baseman Kelly Wayland, representing the winning run, was stranded on third as Wolfhound produced two infield pop ups to end the threat.

Both teams went scoreless in the seventh inning, although Yates had two runners on with only one out but failed to score the winning run. "Our defense was maybe the best it has been all year," commented Yates captain AJ Ryder following the victory. "I knew if our offense came alive then we could win the game because after the third inning we didn't let them gain any momentum offensively; it was a matter of our bats coming alive and propelling us to victory."

Nantucket's Little League All-Stars hosted teams from Martha's Vineyard and Yarmouth Saturday in a one-day baseball tournament. In the first game, the island contingent turned back a team of 11-year-old Vineyarders, 13-6, as Will Ferreira pitched four scoreless innings. In the second game, the 12-year-old Vineyard team evened the count with a 6-0 victory. Zach Moran pitched a complete game against Yarmouth in Nantucket's third contest of the day, a 4-1 victory for the islanders that set up a championship match with the Vineyard. Andrew Benson (above), who pitched earlier in the day, smacked a homer, while Moran, who was named tournament MVP, belted a two-run clout in leading Nantucket to the 5-0 victory. The All-Stars take to the road this Saturday for an eight-team tournament in Dennis. At right, Nantucket's Toby Earle is caught at second by the Vineyard.

The Wolfhound offensive attack continued to be thwarted by the stingy Yates defense that ended threats quickly and efficiently in the first and fifth innings. Wolfhound outfielder Adam Rudolph began the game with a single and was moved to second with one out on a single by Chris Young, but back to back force outs that eliminated the lead runner quelled any threat of a Wolfhound run.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent

Yates had trouble again when Leslie Johnson and Matt Herr hit back to back singles with one out in the top half of the fifth inning. A fielder's choice landed Johnson at third with two outs but McCarthy got Rudolph to pop out to short, ending the inning.

In the top of the third, Wolfhound center fielder Michelle Llewelyn doubled to left field with one out and advanced to third on Young's second single of the day. Llewelyn was plated by a Richard Congdon single to left with two outs. A single by Johnson loaded the bases for Herr who singled home Young representing Wolfhound's second run of the inning and final tally of the game.

Kevin Conrad got things started offensively for Yates Gas singling to open the bottom of the third inning. After an error that moved Conrad to third, leadoff hitter Andy Tovet singled to left field, plating Yates' first run of the ball game. Three innings later a Metcalfe infield single followed by a McCarthy double knotted the game at two.

After a scoreless top half of the eighth for Wolfhound, Yates came to bat looking to put the game away. Metcalfe began the inning by doubling to left center field, taking second with aggressive base running and a tactful slide to avoid being tagged out as the relay throw came in from the outfield. Wayland then grounded out to short but the throw across the diamond from first trying to beat Metcalfe who broke for third was errant and sailed out of play, allowing Metcalfe to score the winning run and conclude

a bizarre walk off victory. I