Monday, August 27, 2012

North Shore Baseball...


 
"I recently found this picture of my Grandfather (Charles Grabowski) who worked for United Shoe in Beverly back in the day. He was a manager at United Shoe for years. He was on the Twilight League back in 1930 at 30 years old. So glad to see the league is still going strong. My Grandfather is in the very back row, last one on the right, white shirt and tie..........."
 
Linda Ternullo

Monday, August 20, 2012

Mariners wrap up 4th ITL title in 5 years

August 19, 2012

Mariners wrap up 4th ITL title in 5 years

The Intertown Twilight Baseball League title is back on Cape Ann.
With a 2-1 win over the Ipswich Chiefs in Saturday’s Game 4, the Manchester Essex Mariners have clinched a fourth ITL championship in the last five seasons. As a result the ITL title will stay in Cape Ann for the 13th time in the last 15 season as the Mariners have won seven league championships in that time span and their Cape Ann rivals the Rockport Townies have won six.
As they have all season long, the Mariners won thanks to strong starting pitching.Mariners starter Rusty Tucker followed up last Sunday’s complete game shutout, 19 strikeout performance with another gem in the series clinching game. Tucker picked up his second win of the series on Saturday going the distance allowing three hits and striking out 11.
Tucker out-dueled Chiefs starter Mark O’Flynn, who he also beat in game 2 of the series last Saturday, for the win. O’Flynn also went the distance allowing eight hits.
The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. O’Flynn led off with a single and advanced to third on an outfielders throwing error before coming home on a fielders choice.
Manchester Essex made sure the Ipswich lead would not last long as they took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a two RBI single from Ian Buckley.
From there it was all Tucker and O’Flynn cutting down any scoring chance. The Mariners also got some defensive help from Nate Bertolino who made a circus catch over his head for the second out in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Rory Gentile, Pete L’Italien and Tucker powered the Mariners offense with two hits each. Manchester Essex, who finished the season in first place with a record of 18-6, finishes off the season with a stellar 23-7 record dropping only game 1 of the championship series.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Manchester-Essex ready to face Ipswich Chiefs in Intertown Twilight League baseball final

One Cape Ann baseball team is right where it feels comfortable: In the championship.
The other is in unfamiliar territory: At home.
Manchester-Essex returned to the Intertown League baseball finals after missing last year’s and not having the chance to make it four titles in a row.
Rockport, meanwhile, is done for the season, finishing with a 9-15 record and missing the four-team playoffs for the first time in at least 14 seasons. That many seasons ago, current player-manager Jeremy Spittle began his career, and he and Rockport haven’t missed the playoffs since.
But this time, it’s been all Manchester-Essex, the first-place regular-season finishers who swept Rowley, the defending champs that knocked them out one year ago, in this week’s best-of-three series.
Now, they have a championship date with Ipswich, the third-place finishers who ousted Beverly in another sweep. The best of five final series starts Saturday, Aug. 11, in Essex at 2 p.m. and continues Sunday, Aug. 12, in Ipswich (2 p.m.) and Wednesday, Aug. 15, back in Essex (5:30 p.m.).
"Timely hitting, pitching and defense – which has what it’s been all year for us," said Manchester-Essex player/manager Bryan Lafata, when asked about his team’s success in the playoffs first round.
The duo performing the lights-out pitching work is righty Ryan Marques and lefty Rusty Tucker. Marques held on strong in the last inning of his complete-game performance in Game 1 in Essex, leaving the tying run on second in a 4-3 win.
Tucker, the former Major League draft pick, struck out 13 and allowed one hit in his complete-game effort in the series-clinching, 2-0 Game 2 win in Rowley.
"Ryan pitched well, and Rusty was on," said Lafata, a catcher.
Meanwhile, Nate Bertolino (key homer in Game 1) and Alex Ray (key hits in Game 2) provided sparks on offense. Lafata would like to see the Mariners take better advantage of runners on base.
But either way, they’re in the finals again against what Lafata calls a worthy foe.
"Ipswich is another good, young team with a couple of veterans," he said. "They have solid pitching, and it should be an interesting series. They’ve beaten us on a walk-off double, and we’ve had some other nail biters with them."
Rockport’s Spittle called this season "frustrating for us, collectively."

Read more: Manchester-Essex ready to face Ipswich Chiefs in Intertown Twilight League baseball final - Gloucester, MA - Wicked Local Gloucester http://www.wickedlocal.com/gloucester/newsnow/x1791379466/Manchester-Essex-ready-to-face-Ipswich-Chiefs-in-Intertown-Twilight-League-baseball-final#ixzz23ooPf4U4

Mariners one win from ITL title with Game 3 win

Mariners one win from ITL title with Game 3 win

ESSEX-- Ryan Marques was certainly laboring a bit in Game 3 of the ITL baseball finals against Ipswich Wednesday.
The Manchester Essex right hander was pitching on just three days rest after being the tough luck loser in his team’s 2-1 loss in Game 1 of the series and was facing an Ipswich lineup that can wear out the best of pitchers in the league.
Marques, however, dug down deep and made several big pitches in big spots allowing just a single unearned run in six innings pitched in the Mariners 7-1 win at Memorial Field in Essex. Marques worked around multiple errors and a couple of walks allowing four hits while striking out six and forcing the Chiefs to leave 10 men on base in the victory.
With the win the Mariners take a 2-1 lead in the best of five series and can clinch their fourth title in the last five years with a win in Game 4 Saturday in Ipswich (2:00 p.m.). An Ipswich win on Saturday means the teams will be right back at it for Game 5 on Sunday at Essex (2:00 p.m.).
“Marques came up huge for us tonight,” Mariners catcher Bryan Lafata said. “He came out on three days rest and you could tell he was tired. He really only had one long inning but he slowed his pace up and got through it. He made a lot of big pitches in big situations.”
The turning point of the game came in the third inning where both teams had prime scoring opportunities and one team took advantage of them.
Manchester Essex held a 1-0 lead but nearly imploded making three errors in the inning. Marques, however, worked around the errors and a pair of walks in the frame allowing just a single run in an inning that could have been much worse.
Manchester Essex then followed up with three runs of its own thanks to some sloppy play from Ipswich. Caulin Rogers led off the frame with a bloop triple that got past a diving Ipswich right fielder, he was driven in one batter later on a Rusty Tucker single. Nate Bertolino singled in Tucker two batters later then came in to score on a Mike Cain double. A fielding error from Ipswich allowed a third run to score in the inning giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead.
“The third inning was huge for us,” Lafata said. “We made a few mistakes in the top half but then got some key outs to get in without too much damage. In the bottom half we strung together some timely hits. That’s what these games come down to, who takes advantage of their opportunities and we did tonight.”
The Mariners opened things up with another run in the fourth on a Tucker RBI single and two more in the fifth, both unearned that scored on fielding errors. The game was called after the top of the sixth inning due to darkness.
Tucker, Bertolino and Ian Buckley powered the Mariners offense with a pair of hits each. Greg Doucette led the Chiefs by reaching base
in all three at bats with a hit an
The Mariners now turn their attention to Saturday’s Game 4, and they have every reason to be confident as staff ace Tucker will be on the mound. The south paw will be pitching on full rest and coming off of a start where he struck out 19 in game two’s complete game shutout.
Lafata, however, says the team needs to come out aggressive with its ace on the hill.
“We can’t hang back and relax the way some teams have a tendency to do with their ace on the mound,” he said. “We have to come out aggressive and get him an early lead. We have been in this spot before so we know what needs to be done, we just have
to go out Saturday and execute.”

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Chiefs 2 Mariners 1

Kevin Michael pitched a complete game gem as the Chiefs won Game 1 2-1. Ryan Montecalvo homered in the first inning and Manchester tied it in the fifth. In the top of the seventh the Chiefs had three straight hits (Tom Radzim, Gardy O'Flynn and Chris Zaremba) and plated one that stood up. Matt Small made some tremendous plays at short in the final inning to secure the win. Game #2 is at 2pm at Bialek park on Sunday.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Game Two: Manchester/Essex - 2, Rowley - 0

Manchester/Essex completed the sweep over Rowley by winning Game Two 2 to 0.  Rusty Tucker threw a one hit shutout for the win.

Manchester/Essex will host Ipswich in Game One of the Finals on Saturday.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Game One: Ipswich - 11, Beverly - 9

The Beverly Giants jumped out to a 6 to 0 lead in the first inning but lost 11 to 9.  The Ipswich Chiefs trailed 6 to 3 in the fifth inning when they exploded for 8 runs to take an 11 to 6 lead.  The Giants scored 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning but left the tying run at the plate.
Kevin Michael earned the win for Ipswich pitching a complete game.  Michael was also 3 for 5 with an RBI at the plate.  Greg Doucette was 2 for 5 with a HR and 2RBI.  Chris Zaremba and Andy Knox both knocked in two runs.

Josh Levesque was charged with the loss for the Giants.  At the plate, Levesque was 3 for 3 with a run scored.  Ty Besse doubled twice and had 2 RBI.  Paul Drinkwater knocked in two runs.

Game Two is Monday night in Ipswich.



Rowley wins One Game Playoff

Rowley beat Hamilton last night in Essex to win a One game playoff and clinch 4th Place.  Rowley will match up with 1st Place Manchester/Essex in a 3 game Semi-Final Series starting tonight at 5:30PM in Essex.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Topsfield 2 Rockport 1

Topsfield beat Rockport 2-1 behind BJ Heath outdueling Matty Sharon.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Generals Lose, Rams Win - Force 1 Game Playoff

The Generals lost to M/E Mariners tonight and the Rowley Rams beat Ipswich on the last day of the season to force a one game playoff for the 4th seed.  The game will be held at Essex Memorial Field tomorrow night, 5pm start.  A coin toss will determine the home team.

The winner will earn the fourth and final playoff spot.  The Generals just edged the Rams in the season series but everything is all square heading into tomorrow's match up.

Due to the one game playoff, the ITL Home Run Derby will be cancelled.

HR Derby

Right now the ITL HR derby is scheduled for tomorrow starting at 1pm @ Patton Park.  All current ITL players are encouraged to participate.  Things could change however based on tonight's games as there could be a one-game playoff for the 4th seed.  If needed, that game will be held tomorrow and could conflict with the HR Derby.  Stay tuned....

Ipswich - 13, Rowley - 1

Chris Zaremba had 3 hits including 2 triples as the Chiefs (13-10) clinched third place with a win over the Rams (9-13-1).

In other ITL action Manchester (17-6) beat Hamilton (10-12-1) last night.  Those two teams square off again tonight.

Ipswich and Rowley also play again tonight.  Rowley needs a win and a Hamilton loss to force a tie for fourth place and a one game playoff.  Otherwise, Hamilton clinches fourth place.

Ipswich will play second place Beverly (16-8) in the Semi-Finals starting Sunday at 5:30PM at Cooney Field.

First place Manchester will host either Hamilton or Rowley on Sunday.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Ipswich at Rowley Rained Out

The Wednesday Ipswich at Rowley game was rained out.  The two teams will play on Thursday and Friday to finish off the season.  Manchester and Hamilton also have games scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week.

Ipswich has already clinched a playoff spot but will finish in third place with one win or one Hamilton loss.

Hamilton's Magic Number is "2".  Hamilton clinches a playoff spot with a combination of two Hamilton wins or Rowley losses.  If there is only one Hamilton win or Rowley loss it would force a one game playoff for fourth place played on HR Derby Saturday.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Topsfield - 17, Beverly - 4

With the loss Beverly (16-8) finishes in 2nd place.  Manchester (16-6) clinches 1st regardless of what happens in final two games against Hamilton due to holding the tiebreaker over Beverly via 3 to 1 regular season edge.

Game details to follow...


Mariners Over Generals

M/E Mariners beat the Generals last night in a shortened game.   This game consisted of many interesting subplots and in the end the Mariners pulled out the victory.