Mariners 10 Townies 2

Mariners take 2-0 lead in ITL finals with Game 2 dominance
By Nick Curcuru Sports Editor 11 hrs ago
   
The Manchester Essex Mariners are now just one win away from being back on top of the Intertown Twilight Baseball League.

With a 10-2 shellacking of the Rockport Townies in Game 2 of the ITL Finals, the Mariners take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and can clinch the championship with a win on Wednesday in Game 3 at Memorial Field in Essex (5:30 p.m.).

The Mariners, who are going for a ninth league title in the last 11 seasons on Wednesday, never trailed in Tuesday's contest at Evans Field and gave starter Marc Phinney a lead before he even threw a pitch.

After reaching on a walk, Caulin Rogers scored all the way from first on an Adam Philpott double to the gap in left center, giving Manchester Essex a 1-0 lead after one.

The Mariners scored all the runs they needed with three more runs, all with two outs, in the second inning to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

Rogers doubled in Paul Crehan, who reached on a double, to make it 2-0. Mike Cain and Rory Gentile followed with RBI singles to extend the lead.

The teams traded runs in the the third inning as Rusty Tucker scored on a throwing error for the Mariners after being hit by a pitch, and Keady Segel put the Townies on the board in the bottom of the frame when he doubled down the left field line and came around to score when the throw back to the infield went out of play.

Segel's run cut the lead to 5-1, but the Mariners tacked on one more in the fourth when Cain scored on a Tucker sacrifice fly.

Mike Emerson got the Townies back within four with a solo shot to center to lead off the bottom of the fourth, but the Mariners again had an answer as Cain singled in Kellen Field, who doubled, in the top of the fifth to make it 7-2 Mariners.

The victors would go on to score three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 10-2 lead and, more importantly, a 2-0 lead in the series.

Cain and Philpott had three hits and two RBI each to lead the Mariners. Phinney went the distance for the win, allowing two runs on just three hits.