Mariners Bats Come Alive Over Topsfield, Mariners 13 - Tories 2

On Friday night, one year after the passing of their beloved coach/teammate Jared Knowlton, the M/E Mariners bats exploded in a 13-2 victory over the Topsfield Tories at Proctor Field. The Mariners tallied 18 hits, including hits by every starting player (7 of the 9 had multiple hits). The win improves the Mariners to 7-0 on the season, while the Tories drop to 2-3.

Mike Gibbon picked up his 3rd win of the season by going 6 innings, giving up 2 unearned runs, striking out 4, with no walks and 7 hits allowed. Ryan Marques pitched a perfect 7th to end the game. Matt Rogers took the loss while pitching 3+ innings, and was followed by Palmadoro and Driscoll on the mound.

Leading the Tories offensively was leadoff hitter, Eric Bunker who went 2-4 on the day (2b, sb), Evan Bunker (2b, r), and other hitting safely (Doug Hittinger, Ben Hathaway, Dave Gallugi, and Driscoll). At the plate for the Mariners, Nate Bertolino (3-5, hr,2r, rbi) and Ty Haskell (3-4, 2rbi, 2r) both recorded 3 hit days. Also obtaining multiple hits were Mike Cain (2b, 2rbi), Bryan Lafata (r, 2rbi), Rick Bettencourt (2b, r), Kyle Hildebrand (r), and Mike MacFarland (2b, 2r, 2rbi, bb). Joe Orlando hit a 3 run homer for the Mariners as well.

Topsfield play a home and home series with the Hamilton Generals (Thurs in Hamilton, Friday in Topsfield), while the Mariners play the 5-1 Rowley Rams on Tues in Essex, and Wed in Rowley.

All game start times are 5:45