The Mariners held off a 7th inning rally by the Townies on Tuesday night in Essex to win 3-2. With a 3-0 Mariners lead heading into the 7th, the Townies plated 2 runs and had the tying and go ahead runs on base. The win puts the Mariners at 3-0 on the young season, while the Townies drop to 1-3.
ITL veteran lefty, Lou McGrath, kept the Townies in the game with 6 strong innings on the mound. McGrath scattered 6 hits, with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks. 2 of the 3 runs scored were earned runs on solo home runs by Rory Gentile and Nate Bertolino of the Mariners. Picking up the victory for the Mariners was Jack Brancaleone, who pitched 6 1/3 innings of 5 hit baseball, giving up 2 runs (1 earned), and also striking out 5 and walking 3. Matt Hildebrand, making his ITL debut, picked up the save by pitching the final 2/3 of an inning with no hits.
Hitting safely for the Mariners was Gentile (solo hr, bb), Bertolino (solo hr, bb), Kyle Hildebrand (rbi double), Mike Cain (2b), Ty Haskell, and Bryan Lafata. Mike Bertolino led the Townies with a 2 for 2 day at the plate with double, bb, and run scored. Other Townies contributing hits were Tom Robertson (1 run), Mike Anderson (rbi), and Brent Currier (bb).The Mariners host Beverly tonight (Wed 6/3) and Sunday 6/7 at Essex (Sunday's game is Beverly's home game in Essex), and Rockport has a 2 game series with undefeated Rowley (Sun 6/7 in Rockport and Wed 6/10 at Eiras Park in Rowley).
