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