Mariners fight off elimination, force Game 4 of ITL Finals
By Nick Curcuru Staff writer
HAMILTON — When Manchester Essex Mariners lefty Rusty Tucker is on the hill, the magic number for the Mariners lineup is three runs. Tucker, a league veteran, has never allowed more than two runs in an appearance before so a three-run lead is a tough hole for the opponent to crawl out of.
In Wednesday’s Game 3 of the Intertown Twilight Baseball League Finals, the Mariners reached their three-run quota in the top of the first inning against the Hamilton Generals and Tucker took care of the rest with a complete game, two-hitter in a 9-1 Mariners win at Patton Park.
Hamilton still holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and needs one more win to clinch its first league title since 1991 while the Mariners need to win the next two games to win their second straight ITL crown. Game 4 of the Finals will be held on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field in Essex (4 p.m.). If the Mariners can fight off elimination for a second game in a row a winner-take-all final will take place on Sunday back at Patton Park (4 p.m.).
The Mariners scored the decisive runs right away in the top of the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead just three batters into the game. After Caulin Rogers and Luke Leavitt led off the opening frame with back-to-back singles, Harry Painter followed with a three-run homer to put Manchester Essex on top for good.
The three runs were more than enough for Tucker, who only struck out six but forced very few hard-hit balls and did not allow a hit until the bottom of the sixth inning. Tucker was all over the strike zone with his fast ball and his defense was strong behind him, committing only one error.
Already leading 3-0, the Mariners broke the game open with four more runs in the top of the second. E.J. Field made it 4-0 with a RBI single scoring Alex Ray (walk) before Caulin Rogers came in to score on a wild pitch for a 5-0 edge. Mike Quill then singled in Field and Dylan Wilson (walk) for a 7-0 Mariners edge after two innings.
The Mariners added another in the fifth when Ray scored on a Field sacrifice fly. Hamilton got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Jake Lanciani singled for the team’s first hit of the game and came around to score on an Aidan Cann double. But the Mariners got another in the top of the seventh when Painter singled home Rogers for a 9-1 lead.
Tucker then struck out the side in order to finish off the complete game.
Rogers led the Mariners with three hits and three runs scored. Painter had two hits and drove in four while Quill had a pair of hits and a pair of RBI’s and Wilson had two hits. The Mariners had 13 hits as a team on Wednesday, a team-high for the series.
