Hamilton tops Manchester Essex in battle of two elite ITL teams
By Tyler Rourke Correspondent 14 hrs ago
SOUTH HAMILTON — The Hamilton Generals topped the Manchester Essex Mariners, 5-1, in Thursday’s Intertown Twilight League (ITL) clash as both teams now head into the second half of the season.
Both sides scored early, each mashing a home run in the first, but it was the first place Generals (now 8-2-1) that continued rolling at the plate.
It started off with Harrison O’Brien cranking one over the fence for a two-run blast. He drove in William Cooke who had a deep double to open their offensive game.
“Harrison got us going in the first, that really sparked us,” Generals head coach Brian Nicoll stated.
It was a terrific performance overall for O’Brien, who likely played his last game on Thursday. His nine years in the ITL will come to an end, and the Generals will have a hard time filling that third base/second hitter slot as he seemingly has been in that role since his time with the team began.
The offense didn’t stop there, however, with the McClintock brothers getting it going in the first as well.
Luke McClintock opened with a single to left, and his brother Conor drove him in immediately after with a single of his own. Later on in the third they kept the momentum going and each had a pair of RBI singles. Luke drove in Ryan Hutchinson, who had previously singled, and Conor drove in Nick Freni, who also reached on a base hit.
Luke’s reign of terror wasn’t just on the offensive side. He also delivered a stellar pitching performance helping the Generals give up just the one run in the first. He totaled nine strikeouts, as he used a variety of pitches and speeds to throw off the Mariners batters.
In a threatening situation where the Mariners (5-5) had the bases loaded in the second inning, he managed to throw two consecutive strikeouts to leave Manchester scoreless.
“We got a great pitching performance from Luke,” said Nicoll, praising McClintock’s performance on the mound. “He’s always a bulldog when he throws.”
It was an overall team effort to stop the Mariners, who have a strong squad of their own.
As previously mentioned, those Mariners were able to get off to a good start. EJ Field had a solo shot to give them their only run of the day, but there were multiple instances where they put pressure on Hamilton and were threatening to take this game.
A team this good, they have big expectations for themselves.
“We didn’t do enough to help ourselves,” said Mariners head coach Dom Cirone. “Too many strikeouts and we didn’t put the ball in play enough, plain and simple.”
Ryan Marques started on the mound and Tom Elliott closed it out, battling hard against such a tough team. The Mariners gave it their all and had a combined eight strikeouts. They adjusted to the Generals hitting but it wasn’t enough for them to claw back into the game.
It was a great game played between two elite teams on Thursday, and they will each look to continue their success as the second half of the season begins.
