Eddie Dias helped guide the Somerville American Legion Post 19 squad to a 13-12 victory over Medford on Friday.

By Mike Rubin

After a long and arduous start to the season, the Somerville Post 19 Legion baseball team recorded their first victory. Yondo Nyadjroh and Jake Dwyer recorded three hits apiece as Post 19 escaped with a wild 13-12 win over Medford in Friday night’s match-up at Trum Field. With the win, Post 19 improves to 1-10 overall.

“We finally got the bats going,” said third baseman and pitcher Eddie Dias. “For the first seven games or so, we weren’t hitting. I don’t know what it was, but I feel like we’re finally going to turn things around and play the type of baseball we should be playing. We have a lot of talent on this team, but for some reason, we just couldn’t put it together at this point.”

For the first three innings, both teams continued to exchange leads before Post 19 erupted for four runs over the next two innings to grab a six run lead. Battling back, Medford closed the gap within two before key hits by Matt O’Donnell, Nyadroh, Eric O’Brien and Dwyer helped secure a Somerville victory in the bottom of the sixth.

On the mound, Clyde Wayshak started the contest, lasting two and a third innings while Sam Evers followed through with an inning and two thirds. Other pitching contributors included Dwyer and O’Donnell.

“It was a crazy game, but we just started hitting,” said Dias. “It’s great to finally get one in the win column.”

Despite a valiant effort, Post 19 succumbed in a tough 8-7 defeat to Watertown earlier in the week. At the plate, Nyadjroh and Dwyer contributed, nailing three hits apiece while combining for four doubles and seven RBIs.

“We started hitting in the (Watertown) game,’ said Dias. “We kept battling back and after being down by a couple of runs, and we were able to hang in there until the end. The guys are starting to pick it up and rise to the occasion.”

After facing a 4-1 deficit, Post 19 battled back, rallying for a pair of runs in the top of the third before grabbing a brief lead on hits by Dwyer and Nyadjroh.

Watertown recovered and rallied for four runs over the final two runs to secure the win. On the mound, Dias earned the loss, allowing seven runs in going the distance.

“If we had done a little better, we would’ve won, but what can you do,’ said Dias. “We’re out there doing the best we can do, and we’re improving.”