Mariners shut out defending ITL champs to advance to finals
For the 10th season in a row, the Manchester Essex Mariners are bound for the Intertown Twilight Baseball League Finals.The Mariners clinched a 10th straight appearance on Tuesday night with an 8-0 win over the defending champion Rowley Rams, sweeping the best of three semifinal series.
"We played some good baseball this series," Mariners manager Ryan Marques said. "Pitching and defense was great and we got the hits when we needed too, especially tonight."
The pitching was stellar for the Mariners as they allowed no runs in the series sweep. Right hander Dylan Wilson picked up the series clinching win with a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits while sitting down the final 10 batters of the game. Wilson had only two strikeouts but the Mariners played error free defense behind him and there were very few hard hit balls.
The win came after Rusty Tucker tossed a complete game shutout in a 1-0 Mariners win in Game 1.
Manchester Essex opened up the scoring in the top of the second when Bennett O'Leary scored on a fielding error and Cory Burnham later came in on a James McKenna sacrifice fly after reaching on a single to make it 2-0.
Burnham's ground ball to second plated Marcus Montagnino (3-for-4, 3 runs) in the third to make it 3-0, and the Mariners added two more in the fifth on a Montagnino RBI double and an O'Leary sacrifice fly to extend the edge to 5-0.
E.J. Field scored on a fielding error in the sixth and then Kellen Field doubled in Montagnino in the seventh, later coming around to score on a wild pitch to cap the scoring at 8-0.
The Mariners never got more than two runs in an inning, but they were all over the basepaths and delivered with runners on base.
"We didn't have any huge innings but we got extra base hits which was key," Marques said. "It took us a little bit to adjust but after the first time through we put together a lot of good swings."
The Mariners now turn their attention to the best-of-five ITL finals, which will begin on Saturday against the winner of Wednesday's Game 3 between the top-seeded Hamilton Generals and the Rockport Townies. If the Generals win, the Mariners will be in Hamilton for Game 1. If the Townies win, the Mariners will host Game 1.
"It's going to be a good series no matter who it is," Marques said. "Rockport has rebuilt their team a little bit this year and are playing well and Hamilton won the regular season."
