An Inside Look at the Woo Sox’s Walk-Off Win

By theholycrossspire on May 5, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Logan Gooley ’24

Staff Writer

*Image courtesy of Logan Gooley*
**Polar Park**

This past Saturday, I had the honor of being able to cover the Worcester Red Sox’s game against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. In fantastic fashion, the Woo Sox walked it off in the 11th inning with a score of 7-6, improving their record to 11-14.

After giving up a bomb to Scranton Wilkes-Barre catcher Rodolfo Duran to make it 4-0 in the top of the sixth, Woo Sox manager Chad Tracy pulled starting pitcher Brandon Walter. Speaking with Tracy after the game about his decision to pull Walter, he praised his pitcher, but noted his struggles during the game; “He had a great start, but just lost the zone for three or four batters and they were able to capitalize. Walter’s been great at avoiding self-inflicted wounds, but that’s what happened today.”

After pulling Walter, the mix of Taylor Broadway, Ryan Sherriff, Andrew Politi, and Jacob Faria played phenomenally, allowing only two runs the rest of the game. In addition to the great pitching, the Woo Sox managed to get their offense on track in the last half of the game, as the team was finally able to take advantage of runners in scoring position.

In the interview with Tracy after the game, his enthusiasm about the victory seemed to be slightly stifled when asked about the team’s performance with runners in scoring position. “You know, we were two for twenty with runners in scoring position today, which makes it more amazing that we scored 7 runs.”

In the eleventh and final inning, Woo Sox backup second baseman Marcus Wilson, who was pinch running, stole 3rd base to start off the inning, leading to a Greg Allen sacrifice fly winning the game. Tracy made it quite clear after the game that he was extremely proud of Wilson and his ability to make plays despite not starting; “He’s always coming up to me in the 7th inning asking who he needs to run for.” Tracy also stated his excitement for the direction that the team is moving in, but stressed the work that the team still needs to do to improve and move up the standings.