Bob Baxter Throws Complete-Game Nine-Hitter and Offense Rallies 14 Hits After a One-Hour-and-Forty-Minute Umpire Delay at Mark Devlin Field
LAWRENCE — Norwood American Legion Baseball Coach Pete Wall admitted that his squad could be in trouble if his top pitcher, Tim Cox, was unable to take the mound for the opening game of their best-of-three playoff series against Lawrence.
Theoretically, Wall was right on the money, but he could not have planned a better outcome when Cox had to scratch due to a sore back.
Stepping into the void, Bob Baxter delivered a stellar complete-game, nine-hit performance, backed by a potent 14-hit offensive onslaught that propelled Norwood to a resounding 15-3 victory last night at Mark Devlin Field. The series shifts immediately to Norwood’s Balch Field tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Cox had originally been slated to start and even began warming up, but a bizarre one-hour-and-forty-minute delay caused by a no-show umpiring crew prompted Cox to realize his back was too stiff to throw. “I threw at practice [Monday] and Coach Wall told me I might be pitching tonight,” Baxter said. “Timmy’s back started stiffening, but I was ready. I usually throw mostly curves, but I stayed with my fastball tonight because it was working. It was the best I’ve thrown all year.”
After a 1-1 tie through the early frames—sparked initially by an opening-frame home run to left field by Norwood’s Andy French and answered by Lawrence’s Ken Covey—Norwood broke the game wide open with six runs in the fifth inning and seven more in the sixth. Dave McMullen, playing through a tender hamstring, paced the assault with a home run and two singles. Second baseman Mike Wall went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs, while Ned Brigham smashed a towering home run to left-center during the fifth-inning surge. Additional offensive contributions came from Bob Goonan, Chris Malouf, Joe Benson, Pete Wall, and Derek Ghostlaw. Baxter successfully shut down the Lawrence lineup, which had previously eliminated Natick, setting the stage for tonight’s home matchup.
(Reporting by Mark Knowlton for The Patriot Ledger).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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