Generals Win 2024 ITL Championship

Mariners swept by Hamilton as stellar season comes to close

• By Matt Williams Staff Writer

 

After stunning the Rockport Townies in the semifinals last week, Manchester Essex jolted into the ITL championship series against top-seeded Hamilton with confidence. But after dropping two competitive games to open the decisive series, the Mariners faced a win-or-go-home situation on Wednesday night and were unable to keep their season alive.

The result was a 13-6 setback on the road at Patton Park, with Hamilton securing the finals sweep and a third straight ITL crown to boot. The Generals finished the year at 24-4-1 and now have a pretty good claim to being the best team in the 95-year history of Hamilton’s ITL outfit.

“To not drop a playoff game, and outscore our playoff opponents 48-20 ... that says a lot,” said Generals player/manager Brian Nicoll. “We had a great group of guys, a nice mix of guys with experience and some newcomers. It’s been a pretty incredible run these last few years.”

Looking to force a Game 4 this weekend, Manchester grabbed a 1-0 lead on Wednesday but Hamilton answered back by going ahead 4-1 after one. The Generals then exploded for six runs in the fourth, led 12-2 after five and held off a late Mariners rally to sweep for the first time in their current three-peat.

Will Frain tripled, drove in a run and scored while Nick Freni was 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. Ryan Monahan added two hits, Connor McClintock doubled and collected three RBI, Carter Coffey scored a pair and Hunter Wilichoski and Luke McClintock collected RBI.

Adam Green threw the first five innings and fanned four to earn the championship clinching win. Coffey and Wilichoski closed it out.

For Manchester, both EJ Field and Cory Burnham mashed doubles, while Tom Connors connected for a big triple. Both Jack Shaw and Cory McCollum were steady on the mound, but the Mariners shot themselves in the foot with a number of costly fielding errors which allowed the majority of the Generals’ runs to score.

If there were an ITL MVP this summer, Luke McClintock (a rising senior at Babson) would be near the top of the list of candidates. Besides going 4-1 with a 1.19 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 41 innings, he batted .362 with 20 RBI. Green was the other horse of Hamilton’s pitching staff, throwing 53 2/3 innings and 53 punchouts and a 2.21 ERA. Coffey, Ryan Hutchinson, Aidan Clarke, Nicoll and Wilichoski all gave the Generals valuable innings over the course of the summer.

Offensively, Nick Freni led the way in run production by hitting .395 with five homers and 22 RBI. Hutchinson contributed a .464 average with 15 RBI while Connor McClintock drove home 15, Wilichoski had 13 RBI and Frain and Tobin Clark-Goldfeld each knocked in a dozen. Aidan Cann also hit .424 with 13 RBI and Will Cooke had a solid summer at .444; the Generals had six regulars bat over .400 and ten players both play at least 10 games and hit over .300.

Hamilton is now the first ITL team to win three straight championships since Manchester claimed five in a row from 2012-16. The Intertown Twilight League goes all the way back to 1929 and has been recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the longest running active amateur baseball league in America.

— Sports Editor Nick Giannino contributed to this report

Generals 13 Mariners 6

 Hamilton wins Game 3 13 to 6 and secures the 2024 ITL championship.

Generals 4 Mariners 1

Luke McClintock pitched a complete game striking out 4 and allowing just 3 hits while Nick Freni was 3 for 3 with a home run to lead the Generals.

Caulin Rogers (2) and James McKenna (2B) had the mariner hits. Craig Carter (4ip) and Cory McCollum (3ip) pitched well for the Mariners.

The Generals are now up two games to zero. Game 3 is Wednesday 5:30pm in Hamilton.

Generals 11 Mariners 8

In the bottom of the 6th Hamilton was trailing 8 to 6, Hunter Wilochoski hit a grand slam to push the Generals ahead. He then came in to pitch and got the save.

Game 2 is today at 4 in Essex.

Mariners Advance

Brett Moore pitched the final 3 innings allowing zero runs to help the Mariners beat the Townies 9 to 7 in 9 innings, advancing to the championship.

Wild One in Rockport

In the decisive Game 3 of the ITL semi finals, the score was Rockport leading 7 to 2 entering the 7th inning. The Mariners started the rally on a Luke Leavitt double into the woods. Then with two outs, two men on and the score 7 to 4 James McKenna stepped up to the plate. McKenna smacked a fastball to the center field woods capping off the 5 run comeback.

With the score tied in the bottom of the 7th the game was called due to rain.

Caulin Rogers of the Mariners and Zack Morris of the Townies also had home runs.

Game will be resumed tonight at 6:30pm in Rockport.

From the news

ROCKPORT — It was all over ... until it wasn’t.

Now, the Rockport Townies and Manchester Mariners will have to wait another day to see who advances to this year’s ITL championship.

Deadlocked in a 7-7 tie heading into the bottom of the seventh, the decisive Game 3 of their semifinals series at Evans Field was suspended due to steady rain. At the time of suspension it was unclear whether or not the two teams will pick up right where they left off or start things over entirely. Regardless, things are set to resume on Friday.

Before the inclement weather struck, Rockport was one strike away from a championship berth against the Hamilton Generals. But Manchester delivered in the biggest moment, as Jack McKenna blasted a three-run homer to deep center to cap off a five-run seventh inning that knotted the score. Rockport finally got a strikeout to escape the disastrous frame, but before its first batter took the plate in the bottom half of the inning the rain started to come down heavier and the umps were forced to call it.

The Mariners huge seventh inning was ignited by an RBI double from Luke Leavitt and an RBI single up the middle from EJ Field. Craig Carter then walked, and McKenna stepped up and whacked one into the woods with two down in the inning.

Prior to Manchester’s stunning and explosive stanza, it was all Rockport. Kyle Beal drew the start on the mound and turned forth a great effort, going five innings while allowing just two runs. He got many outs on ground balls and pop outs, mixing up his pitches well and keeping the Mariners’ guessing at the plate.

Offensively, Zach Morris mashed a two-run bomb in the fourth to give the Townies a 3-1 lead at the time. After Manchester got within one in the fifth on an RBI single from Leavitt, Joe Muzio delivered for Rockport again with a monster bases clearing double in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2. The hosts tacked on one more run in the sixth on an error.

Whoever comes out on top on Friday will take on a Hamilton team that took care of business against Rowley in their semifinals series, 2-0. The Generals were the top team in the ITL all summer and will have home field advantage against either Rockport or Manchester.

Mariners 6 Townies 2

Deadlocked at 2-2 in the 6th, Cory Burnham’s bases clearing triple pushed the Mariners ahead. Tate Ostrowski lead the way on the mound going all 7 innings.

Game 3 is tomorrow night in Rockport.

Rockport at ME postponed

 Tonight’s game in Essex is postponed due to field condition and rain, will be played tomorrow 

Rockport 3 M-E 0

 Rockport wins game one of semis 3-0 behind a CG shutout by Kenzie Quinn.

From the news

 

Rivalry renewed: Rockport, Manchester Essex to face off in ITL playoffs

By Nick Giannino | Sports Editor

 

 The 2024 Intertown Twilight League playoffs are set.

Just the top four teams in the league qualify for the postseason, which will commence with a pair of best 2-out-of-3 semifinal series this Sunday. The Hamilton Generals garnered the top seed and will host No. 4 Rowley to kick things off on Sunday at 4 p.m.

With Beverly and Ipswich each eliminated from postseason contention, that means both the Rockport Townies (the No. 2 seed) and the Manchester Essex Mariners (No. 3 seed) will face off with each other in the other semifinal round. Game 1 of that series will be held at Evans Field on Sunday at 6 p.m., with Manchester then hosting Game 2 on Tuesday at 5:30. If the series is tied after two games, Rockport would host the win-or-go-home finale on Wednesday evening.

“It came down to the wire for home field and obviously in the ITL it makes a big difference, especially having lights because we can play later and get a bigger fan base which is huge,” said Rockport’s Kyle Nelson, a right fielder who also serves as one of the team’s coaches. “With Manchester in particular there’s a rivalry that goes back into the 2010’s, that era, when we played them in the finals back to back years and beat them in 2017-18. So it’s been sort of an ongoing rivalry since.”

Rockport won 13 games this season against just six losses and one tie. From a pitching perspective, they relied on the arms of MacKenzie Quinn and Derick MacDowell, both of whom have had stellar summer seasons on the mound.

“They’ve been workhorses for us; they’re pretty much going every other game and have been all year,” said Nelson. “And in that third starter role Kyle Beal has been great as of late eating some big innings for us.”

Offensively the Townies don’t lack bats. Shortstop Jameson Kamm has been one of the best hitters in the league, Keady Segel is always a consistent and big bat in the middle of the lineup, MacDowell has been hitting great, as has Jack Sperry.

Manchester, meanwhile, counters with a strong lineup of its own. Player/coach Cory Burnham, a first basemen, spoke on the rivalry of the upcoming series and what it’ll be like playing at the unique Evans Field in Rockport to kick things off.

“It’s just been a great rivalry over the last couple of years. Everybody knows each other on the teams which makes it a lot of fun, but once the start of the game rolls around it’s just baseball for a couple hours,” said Burnham. “(But) right field is definitely like no other field there (in Rockport), and they defend their home field well. They do a great job defensively playing their home field and they know it better than anybody, so that’s the biggest challenge.”

Mariners’ ace Tate Ostrowski has been as reliable as they come on the mound, churning out multiple complete games and spinning a 14-strikeout gem in an earlier season win over Rockport, among his other strong starts. Brett Moore has served as the No. 2 pitcher and has done a great job coming off a college season at Gordon, while Jack Shaw has stepped up in a starter role from time to time as well and yielded positive results.

“Tate’s been our No. 1 all summer long and he’s pitched great; everybody has had a lot of trouble with Tate,” said Burnham. “(And) we’re looking forward to having Brett and Jack for the playoff run, too.”

It’s been a collective effort at the dish for a Mariners’ team that Burnham says probably has an average age of about 26. Both Caulin Rogers and EJ Field have been super consistent at the top of the order; Tom Connors has filled in and done a great job; and some of the newcomers like Matt McKenna (a recent MERHS graduate) and Brendan Chauret, the team’s oldest player at 42, have found their way into the everyday starting lineup.

Burnham also shouted out Ryan Marques and Craig Carter, the latter of whom has served as a utility type asset after not stepping on the field in quite some time before this summer.

“Craig’s been a big part of this. He’s a new addition and hitting the ball very well for us after eight years of not seeing a baseball,” Burnham said of Carter, who’s an Army Ranger.

If Manchester is going to steal Sunday’s Game 1 on the road, they’ll rely on experience — something Burnham feels separates his squad from the rest of the league.

“We have a lot of guys that have been here before and I think we’re going to lean on the veteran leadership of this team to show the young guys how to get it done,” said Burnham.

Mariners 7 Generals 5

Bob Whynott went 2 innings allowing 1 run to close the win out for the Mariners. Brett Moore had 3 hits and Caulin Rogers had 2. 

Huntwr Willochoski had a homerun for Hamilton