Dedham 2, Norfolk 2 (8 inn.): Cintolo ties up former teammates

After getting cut from the Norfolk American Legion Post 335 baseball team last year, Jake Cintolo found a home in Dedham with Post 18. He also had something to prove to his friends and the coaching staff he left behind.

It was a disheartening experience to say the least. The Norfolk roster is full of friends and teammates from King Philip Regional High School, but if they tell you that you aren’t good enough, the only thing you can do is try to fit in somewhere else.

Last night at Memorial Park, Cintolo gave Post 335 a glimpse of what they were missing, tossing six strong innings and scattering four hits in his first start of the year in a pitcher’s duel against Norfolk hurler Alex Palioca. Both were tough to beat, and in the end, impossible to beat as Post 18 and Norfolk finished with a 2-2 tie after eight innings of play and was halted by the District 6 curfew rule.

“Its’ fun going against them,” said Cintolo of facing his high school teammates. “There are a lot of good kids over there and a lot of good baseball players. Playing with them all year and knowing what their weaknesses are really can help. Knowing a kid can’t stay back on a curveball or can't catch up to a fastball really helps out.”

Currently sitting at 4-5-2 on the season, Post 18 was hoping to grab a victory and two points to help kick start a second-half push for the fifth and final playoff start pout of District 6 West. After the first inning, it looked like they would do just that.

After turning a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first, Mac Jacobson and Mike Reardon each hit singles, as did Cintolo one out later to load the bases. Catcher Dan Riley hit a sharp grounder to second for a fielder’s choice to score Jacobson, but Norfolk first baseman Jared Clement couldn’t handle the attempt to double up Riley, allowing Reardon to race all the way around from second to give Post 18 a 2-0 lead.

From that point, Cintolo and Palioca, who pitched a complete game six-hitter with five strikeouts, matched each other zero for zero until the top of the fifth, when Post 335 put together a two-out rally. Brendon Smith surprised Cintolo at the bottom of the order by smacking a fastball into left for a single, and then scored on a triple by Connor Richards to right. Chris Ford followed with a base hit down the third baseline to plate Richards, knotting the score at 2-2. Cintolo ended any further damage by catching Greg Davey looking at a fastball for an inning-ending strikeout.

“I really didn’t think he could hit a fastball,” said Cintolo of the base hit by Smith. “I kind of just threw it and dared him to hit it, and he came through. Then, they get the second run on a ground ball that just seemed to find the right spot.”

Controversy reared its head in the bottom of the seventh, when Dedham’s Henry Mauck belted what appeared to be a two-out double into the gap in left. With coaches, players and fans screaming from the Norfolk sidelines that Mauck failed to touch first base, the field umpire ruled him out following an appeal. Whether or not Mauck actually missed the base seemed to depend on which team you were rooting for, but what had Dedham manager Dave Brown upset was the fact that he felt the call should have been made by the home plate umpire, as the field ump was out of position in his estimation.

“He (the field umpire) wasn't facing the play. We might have missed the bag, we might not, but he wasn’t facing the bag to make that call,” said Brown. “If the home plate umpire calls it, I could see it. It's just a tough call to make at that stage.”

With Post 18 needing every point it can get while trying to climb back into the playoff hunt, it could have been a costly development. In the end, Dedham managed to salvage a crucial point with the tie, but the game had the makings of a potentially better result.

“It's like a loss really. To go up 2-0 in the first inning, hitting the ball hard the way we were, it’s disappointing,” said Brown. “I think we just fell asleep and got ahead of ourselves. Jake pitched a great game. We played hard, and we played pretty good defense. They're a pretty good team so to get a point out of it helps, but it feels like a loss the way the game ended.”