ITL playoff field set, Rockport Townies land the No. 1 seed
America’s Oldest Amateur baseball league, the Intertown Twilight Baseball League, will begin postseason play this weekend, and four very familiar faces will make up the final four including both Cape Ann squads.
While the final two seeds still need to be sorted out, the Semifinal his set with the Rockport Townies, defending league champion Hamilton Generals, the Rowley Rams and the Manchester Essex Mariners advancing with the Beverly Giants and Ipswich Chiefs eliminated from postseason contention.
The four semifinalists have all won championships in the last five years with the Generals breaking a 30-year drought to take home the 2022 crown. The Mariners won the title in both 2021 and 2019 with the Rams taking home the title in 2020 and the Townies last winning in 2018.
The best-of-three semifinals will begin on Sunday with the best-of-five finals beginning on Saturday, August 12.
Heading into Tuesday night’s action, the Rockport Townies had already clinched the No. 1 seed, finishing up the regular season with a record of 15-4-1. The Hamilton Generals (13-4-1) have wrapped up the No. 2 seed while Rowley (10-5-2) and Manchester Essex (10-7) are battling for the No. 3 seed. Rowley needs one win to clinch the No. 3 spot. Sunday’s Game 1’s will take place at Rockport’s Evans Field and Hamilton’s Patton Park (time still TBA). The Townies will hit the road for Game 2 in the 1 vs. 4 matchup on Monday with Game 3 back at Evans Field on Wednesday if necessary. The Generals will hit the road for Game 2 on Tuesday with Game 3 back at Patton Park on Wednesday if necessary. All times for playoff games are still TBA.
The Townies earned the No. 1 seed with a blend of pitching and hitting. Rockport has used its pitching depth with veteran MacKenzie Quinn along with Kyle Beal, Frew Rowen, Sam MacDowell Derick MacDowell and Will Meuller all seeing big innings. Danny Ryan and Keady Segel have powered the offense.
The Mariners, on the other hand, are looking for a 12th straight berth in the ITL finals. Manchester Essex has reached the ITL finals every year since 2012, winning seven championships in that time span. Rusty Tucker and Zach Abbott have been a strong one-two punch on the mound for the Mariners with Brett Moore and John John Mondello also seeing a lot of innings.
