From the GDT News

 ESSEX — Fall down, get back up again.

That just about sums up the Manchester Essex Mariners’ mentality, not only in Wednesday night’s Intertown Twilight League (ITL) Game 3 championship tilt, but all summer long.

The Mariners — who finished atop the league’s regular season standings and eliminated the four-time defending champion Hamilton Generals along the way — scrapped their way to victory on multiple occasions throughout the campaign. And in a potential title-clinching clash on their home field at Memorial Park, they did it again to hoist the trophy.

Trailing the Rowley Rams on three separate occasions throughout the evening, Manchester clawed its way back before walking it off in extra innings on an RBI single from Caulin Rogers for a thrilling 8-7 win.

The decisive, game-winning knock came in the eighth inning just before darkness and gave the Mariners their first ITL crown since 2021.

“It was everything and anything I could’ve asked for from all these guys. It took a total team effort for this one,” said Mariners manager Cory Burnham, his team making its 15th straight finals appearance this year before finally getting back over the hump. With the win, Manchester completed a 3-0 sweep of Rowley.

“This is what we do; we never quit,” he continued. “We played hard and that’s exactly what this team’s all about.”

Rallying from a three-run deficit to knot things up at 6-6 heading into the sixth, Manchester again fell behind by a run in the top of the frame on an errant pick off attempt that allowed Rams’ Curtis Putnam to score.

But they tied things back up at 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth as Rogers hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Both teams then went down quick in the seventh, sending the game to extras where the Mariners worked their magic one more time.

Theo Masella started the party by reaching first on an infield single and promptly stealing second. Then with two outs, Kevin McKenna strung together a phenomenal at bat, nearly ending things with a hard hit ball down the third base line that bounced just foul, and ultimately reaching with a walk.

Rogers then stepped up to the plate and played hero, mashing one over the infield into shallow right to score Masella for the game-winning run.

“It’s poetic justice at its finest,” explained Burnham. “Kevin McKenna, generally a bench player all year, he gets the call tonight to go into this game, plays the majority of the game, then has a huge at bat to get on base. And then we get our veteran captain up in Caulin Rogers and he finishes the job. It’s everything we expect.”

The extra inning, walk-off victory was sweet in itself. But considering how things unfolded throughout the evening, it was that much sweeter if not improbable.

Manchester turned to their ace, Brett Moore, for the start. But he was uncharacteristically roughed up in the opening frame before exiting with an injury. It was an unfortunate start for the Mariners, who fell behind 4-0 after that top of the first thanks in large part to a 3-run bomb over the fence in left by the Rams’ Justin Ziolkowski.

Zach Abbott swiftly came on in relief and got his team out of the first inning before grinding his way through the remainder of the contest with aplomb. He had 1-2-3 frames in the second and third, and got out of the fourth clean with just one single allowed.

Rowley plated two in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead at the time; one via an RBI single from Aidan Gracey and another on a wild pitch. But all in all, Abbott was phenomenal on the bump and gave his team a chance all night.

He finished with four strikeouts while his defense backed him up with some great plays in the infield.

“He was awesome. All our pitchers are nails,” said Burnham. “They carried us all year. Some days we didn’t have all the bats, some days we did, but the pitchers always showed up, always had our backs, and in the end we ended up picking (Abbott) up tonight.”

Manchester had made it 4-2 in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Caz Ostrowski and another single from Lukas Albano that allowed Ostrowski to cross home. The hosts then got it to 4-3 in the third on a sacrifice ground out from EJ Field to score Ostrowski.

Trailing 6-3 in the fifth, Rogers roped an RBI double to deep center and Albano added another RBI knock with a hard hit ball to left to cut the deficit to one. Field then hit a sac-fly to deep center to tie it.

Three comebacks in one game, the latter of which gave Manchester the championship sweep and an ever elusive title.

Not a bad way to finish.

“Super satisfying,” said Burnham. “It’s hard to come back (every year). We lost some guys, sometimes it takes years to rebuild but we just kept reloading and finally we got back on top.”

Manchester has now won 13 ITL championships since 2000, the most out of any team in the league. They won three straight from 2008-10, five in a row from 2012-16, won again in 2019 and most recently, 2021.

Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.

Mariners are Champions

Skipper Cory Burnham led the Manchester Essex Mariners to their first ITL title since 2021 with sweep of Rowley Rams 

Caulin Rogers the hero, RBI single in bottom 8 to walk it off, 8-7 

Zach Abbott was a dog on mound, going the distance after coming in in relief early in first

From the news

 After what unfolded in Game 2 of the ITL championship series at Eiras Park in Rowley on Sunday night, it’d be tough to bet against the Manchester Essex Mariners moving forward.

And when looking at their season as a whole, this most recent positive result shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

With both pitchers dominating, Manchester went into the seventh and final frame locked in a scoreless tie and searching for its first hit of the night. Brett Moore delivered that knock, Caz Ostrowski followed suit with a textbook bunt, and a few batters later the Mariners found themselves leading 2-0.

Tom Elliot then slammed the door in the bottom half of the frame to not only secure the win for his team, but a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series against the Rowley Rams.

“It was a real nail-biter,” said Mariners manager Cory Burnham. “Caz Ostrowski pitched great for 5 2/3 for us but ended up getting a pretty gnarly blister on his finger, forcing me to take him out. But Tom Elliot came into the game with the bases loaded, two outs and got a huge strikeout then finished out the game (in the 7th). He was absolutely nails. Just a great win.”

Zach Gilmore toed the bump for Rams and was on cruise control until the decisive seventh.

That’s when Moore provided the necessary spark, coming through with his team’s first hit of the game in a huge spot by drilling one to right field. Ostrowski — who was still battling through the blister on his throwing hand — then laid down the bunt on the very next pitch and the Mariners struck some good fortune when the Ram’s throw ricocheted off a players helmet and into the outfield.

That not only allowed Ostrowski to get all the way to third base, but sent Moore home for the game’s first run.

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Recent GHS graduate Lukas Albano then stepped up the plate and came through with another base hit to drive Ostrowski in and supplant the scoring at 2-0.

All this came just 24 hours after Manchester had seized a 1-0 series lead with a convincing 9-2 victory at Memorial Park in Essex in Saturday evening. And they accomplished that with one decisive stanza at the plate, too.

All knotted at 2-2 headed into the third of that one, Manchester erupted for seven runs in the bottom half of the frame to win going away. Moore and Burnham both finished with two hits on the evening while EJ Field took one for the team on two separate occasions, reaching base via hit by pitches twice.

Defensively, Zach Abbott picked up the win on the mound, striking out six and allowing just three hits across five innings pitched. Mikey Harris, a current Manchester Essex High standout, then came on for the save with two strong innings of no-hit ball (1 K).

Now it’s on to Wednesday’s Game 3 back in Essex, where Manchester can clinch its first championship since 2021 with another win.

“We just have to continue to play the confident brand of baseball that we’ve been doing all year,” said Burnham. “We know what we’re capable of, we’ve been here before and we know how to handle this situation and I know we’re gonna do just that.”

Burnham says the plan is to start their ace Moore in that one, with Abbott coming on to close things out if necessary.

“Those guys have been carrying us all year,” added Burnham. “We’re always calling on ‘Big Game Brett’ when we need a win, and here we are with a chance to win the whole thing and he’s getting the start.”

Mariners 2 Rams 0

Caz Ostrowaki pitched great 5 2/3 innings but the Rams loaded the bases with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, the Mariners called in Tom Elliott who was able to get the last out.

Still tied at 0-0 in the top of the 7th, Brett Moore leads off with the Mariners first hit of the game. Ostrowski then laid down a bunt and third baseman hit the runner going to first, Moore ran all around and scored. Lucas Albano got a base hit to score Ostrowski to go up 2 to 0.

Manchester-Essex spun a massive double play in the bottom of the 7th to quell a Rowley comeback.

Game 3 is Wednesday in Essex.

Mariners take Game 1

 9-2 win for Manchester-Essex over Rowley

Abbott 5ip win 6k 3 hits

Mike Harris 2ip save 1 k 0 hits 

Brett Moore 2 hits 

EJ field 2 hbp

Cory Burnham 2 hits 

2-2 game going into the 3rd 

Mariners scored 7 in the bottom 3rd

From the news

 ESSEX — Win or go home.

After a walk-off Game 2 playoff victory by the Rockport Townies on Wednesday night, that was the situation both they and their worthy playoff opponent, the Manchester Essex Mariners, faced on Thursday evening at Memorial Park.

The winner would head to the Intertown Twilight League championship series to face the Rowley Rams, the loser would see their summer season come to a close.

Despite another valiant effort by the fourth-seeded Townies, it was top-seeded Manchester that held on for triumph, securing a 3-1 decision on their home diamond.

With the win, Manchester advanced to a remarkable 15th straight finals.

“I told you what we were going to do and we did it,” Manchester Essex manager Cory Burnham said, referring to his discussion with the Gloucester Times after Wednesday night’s loss. “We showed up and we played our brand of baseball and now we’re on to the finals; we knew we were going to be here.”

The game started off slow for both teams with both pitchers putting together a couple of strikeouts early on. Manchester Essex’s Brett Moore, who finished with four Ks, and Rockport’s Derrick MacDowell (5 Ks) were both in a groove out of the gate.

The first run wasn’t plated until the bottom of the fourth inning when EJ Field drew a walk and ended up scoring on a single from James Dolan for a 1-0 Manchester lead. Dolan would get some help from Caulin Rogers, who would return the favor by driving him in with an RBI single to double the lead.

The Mariners would then add another insurance run before the frame was over, as Lukas Albano singled, stole second and third base, then followed his base run by scoring on a passed ball to make it 3-0.

At that point, the energy seemed to deflate from Rockport and the momentum had shifted all to the Mariners.

“That’s a good team over there,” said Rockport manager Mike Frontierro. “They (were) in first place for a reason. We didn’t hit like we should have tonight, we had a few too many walks. Hats off to them, that finals should be good.”

Rockport would not go down without a fight with Ben Sperry starting the sixth inning off with a double and Zach Oliver hitting him home on a two-bagger of his own to give Rockport their lone run of the game.

“This season was a roller coaster ride for us,” said Frontierro “We had some ups and downs, but when we made the playoffs, I didn’t think we were gonna make it.”

Zack Abbott came on to close for the Mariners and delivered for his team, ending the game on a strikeout to secure them a spot back in the finals.

“We have to stay confident in what we can do,” Burnham said. “Keep playing our brand of baseball and everything’s going to go our way.”

The Mariners will look to get over the hump and capture their first finals win since 2021, and this team appears to have what it takes to do just that.

“The grittiness of this team, everybody, all 15 that’s on the bench,” Burnham said, “everybody’s down to get down and dirty. Total team effort for every win and that’s just what we do. We’re a full, complete team. So we got to the finals.”

This year’s championship round will begin this weekend in Essex, with an official time and date for Game 1 yet to be determined.

- Sports Editor Nick Giannino contributed to this report

THANK YOU TOWNIES FANS!

 The Rockport Townies thank our fans for supporting us all season long. Means SO much to us to have you in the stands every Sunday nite, and we look forward to seeing you again in May!

Mariners advance

 Mariners 3, Townies 1

Mariners advance to the finals for the 15th consecutive season 

Townies 5 Mariners 4

 Rockport walks it off in bottom of the 7th on a single by Will Cahill to tie the series 1-1. Game 3 is in Essex Thursday, 8/6 at 5:30p. Winner of game 3 will face Rowley in the best of 5 Championship Series.

Rams advance to finals

 Rowley swept the Ipswich Chiefs to advance to the ITL Finals, it is the Rams first trip back since winning the championship in 2020.

Congrats to the Chiefs on a great season, they had not made the playoffs in over 10 seasons.

Townies schedule update update

 ***Updated schedule for Townies vs Mariners playoff series:

Game 2: at 6p on Wednesday 8/5 at Evans Field in Rockport

Mariners-Townies Game 2 Postponed to Tuesday

Rockport and Manchester/Essex Game 2 Postponed to Tuesday in Rockport at 6pm.

Mariners 7 Townies 3

 Zack Abbott pitched the Mariners to a first round game 1 victory 

Mariners 14 Generals 0

 Caz Ostrowski picked up the win as the Mariners clinch first place heading into the playoffs

Ipswich 13 Rowley 11

 Zack Lampkin leads the Chiefs to victory.

Rockport sweeps DH @ Beverly

 Townies sweep double header vs Giants Sunday 7/26 at Cooney Field in Beverly winning game one 10-1 and game two 12-2. Rockport finishes regular season at 10-10 and awaits results of other league games this week to determine playoff status.

From the news

 ESSEX — Manchester Essex has been hot all summer on the diamond, and they kept the fire burning in a big way during Thursday night’s home tilt with rival Rowley.

In what was a late regular season ITL clash, the Mariners came away with a 7-0 shutout victory over the Rams behind an excellent pitching outing from Zack Abbott.

Abbott delivered from the jump, pitching all seven innings for the Mariners while allowing zero earned runs and totaling four strikeouts.

Abbott’s complete game shutout was buoyed by a terrific effort from his teammates in the field, who gobbled up a good amount of pop-ups and ground balls throughout the evening.

“It was a good complete game for us,” said Manchester Essex manager Cory Burnham, his team now 13-3. “Zack Abbott was excellent all seven innings which is great to get out of our pitcher. We had some timely hits ... overall it was a strong, complete game for us.”

Caulin Rogers got the scoring started for the Mariners in the fourth inning with a two-run single to break open a scoreless game and send both Nick Glass and Adam Mcleod home.

Manchester Essex played a clean game in the field and put together an excellent team performance on both sides of the plate.

“We played error-free baseball,” Burnham said. “The collective effort of everybody to keep runners from advancing, I think that’s what stood out. Not one individual person; it was a total team effort.”

Townies hoping to finish strong, sneak into playoffs

Alone in first place throughout the 2026 campaign, the Manchester Essex Mariners have already clinched a playoff spot for this summer's ITL session.

But outside of them, four other teams are vying for the final three spots, and realistically, it could go a variety of ways as we head down the regular season home stretch. 

One of those four teams, the Rockport Townies, controlled their own destiny heading into Wednesday night's doubleheader against Hamilton. But after two consecutive losses in those games (by 5-2 and 8-3 scores, respectively), the Townies now need a little help, too. 

"Between us, Ipswich, Rowley and Hamilton, now there's three spots available for four teams," said Rockport manager Joe Dapper, his team 8-10. "Hopefully we can take care of business at Beverly on Sunday for a doubleheader, and then we'll see what happens."

Even if Rockport wins both games against Beverly this weekend, they wouldn't be guaranteed a playoff spot. 

Ipswich (8-7) and Hamilton (8-9) both have the chance to finish with better records, while Beverly (1-14) has struggled this summer and has already been eliminated. 

The Townies have endured an up-and-down campaign overall, with usual suspects Jack Sperry, Jack Guelli and Warren Adams leading the charge in Wednesday's losses with two total hits on the night. Rockport certainly has the talent to compete should they make the playoffs, but for now, all they can do is bring their best on Sunday and hope the final standings shake out in their favor. 

"We've had ebbs and flows all season, and when we're on we're really on. When we hit well we win," said Dapper. "The good thing about the league (this year) is that it's competitive and on any given night anybody can beat anybody else. We're just hoping to finish .500 with two wins on Sunday and let the chips fall where they may."

Mariners over Rams

 7-0 win 

Abbot 7k 3hit 

Albano 3 run home run 

EJ field stand up triple 

Theo Ostrowski double 

Mariners Rams PPD

 Mariners and Rams are postponed today due to rain. Game will be played on Thursday in Essex.

Townies 6 Chiefs 3

 Rockport takes down Ipswich Monday 7/20 at Bialek Park in Ipswich 6-3 behind a strong outing from Kenzie Quinn on the bump and Jack Sperry going 3-4 at the plate. Rockport moves to 8-8 on the season with the win.

Mariners 5 Giants 0

 Zack Abbott complete game 9k shut out.

Mariners 13 Giants 2

 13-2 win 

Nick brown 4inning pitched 

Cory McCollum 3 shut out innings pitched (birthday boy) 

James Dolan Hr 

Caulin Rogers 3 hits 

Luke McDonald homered for Beverly in the first inning 

Townies 10 Rams 9

 Rockport walks it off in the bottom of the 7th with a 10-9 win over Rowley on Sunday 7/12. 

Mariners mercy rule Townies

 12-2 win in 6 innings

Zach Abbott cg 

1 hit 

Which was a home run to jack sperry of rockport

 

Lucas Albano Theo Massella (2hits) EJ Field and Cory Burnham all had doubles 

Townies 5 Mariners 2

 Townies beat the Mariners 5-2 in Essex Wednesday 7/8 behind a strong outing on the mound by Sam MacDowell. Both clubs are back at it Thursday 7/9 at 6p at Evans Field in Rockport.

Townies @ Mariners PPD

 Townies @ Mariners game is postponed until tomorrow, 5:45 in Essex.

Mariners 11 Townies 1

 11-1 win 

Brett Moore cg 5 innings 1 unearned run 

Caulin Rogers home run 

From the news

 In each of the past four summers, the Hamilton Generals and Manchester Essex Mariners have met in the best-of-5 championship series to close out the season.

And in each of those past four summers, the Mariners have come up short.

This year, manager Cory Burnham and his re-tooled roster hope to snap that streak.

After opening the new campaign with a perfect 7-0 record, the Mariners went into last week’s two-game slate with their rivals from Hamilton with hopes of setting the tone. In Game 1, they suffered a similar fate as years past, dropping a 7-2 decision. But Manchester rebounded in Game 2 the very next night, securing a 5-2 victory to get back in the win column.

The Mariners then fell to Ipswich on Monday before a rematch was postponed the following evening due to rain, but the team still sits at an ITL-best 8-2 nearing the midway point of the year.

“We’re confident heading into the second half of the season,” said Burnham, his team holding a slight lead over second-place Rowley (6-3) and third place Rockport (5-4) at this point. Hamilton, meanwhile, is starting to come alive a bit after a slow start and no holds a 4-6 record.

“I’m still waiting on the bats to really come alive, but I think we’re close,” continued Burnham. “Our starting pitchers Zach Abbott, Brett Moore and Caz Ostrowski have carried us thus far, but we have a good mix of veterans and new guys to balance out the lineup.”

In Game 1 against Hamilton — undoubtedly a clash Manchester had circled on the calendar heading into the season — Generals’ ace Ryan Hutchinson was on his game to shut them down. The 2021 H-W graduate would cruise through six innings, with the Mariners scattering a couple of hits before finally getting on the board in the final inning. But at that point, it was too little, too late.

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“He tossed an absolute gem and they made big plays in the field every time we threatened while he was on the mound,” admitted Burnham. “(But) it was good to see the team show some fight all the way to the end.”

Twenty-four hours later, Manchester was back with a vengeance.

The aforementioned Ostrowski was dominant on the mound — “he was in total control the whole game,” said Burnham — throwing a complete game while striking out 10, walking two and allowing just three hits.

Offensively, Manchester got some aggressive baserunning from Theo Massella to help lead the charge.

“(Massella) has been another great addition to the team playing in the middle infield splitting time between second base and shortstop,” added Burnham.

But it was Ostrowski who truly carried the Mariners to victory in his first start following another complete game, one-hit shutout against Rowley a week earlier.

He’s been a work horse for us really settling into the pitching rotation, and he really brought it,” said Burnham.

Against Ipswich, Manchester was admittedly a bit understaffed, but Burnham wouldn’t use that as an excuse. He instead chose to credit the upstart Chiefs (4-5), who have really come on as a formidable opponent this year.

“That’s what makes this league fun. Some nights you have to out there with guys out of position and give it your all,” explained Burnham. “Ipswich is no longer a punching bag and they made us pay for it.”

As good as the pitching has been for Manchester this season, new starting catcher Theo Ostrowski deserves a ton of credit for managing great games behind the dish and building chemistry with his team’s slew of arms. The Mariners continue to get strong contributions from the likes of Caulin Rogers, EJ Field, Lukas Albano, Nick Glass, Nico Alves and others, too.

Next up, Manchester has a big three-game series with Rockport, which includes a make-up game from an early season postponement. Game 1 gets underway on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Rockport.

Chiefs Mariners PPD

 Game was called before becoming official due to rain

Chiefs 7 Mariners 3

Generals 5 Townies 2

 Hamilton wins 5-2 over Rockport on June 29th at Evans Field. Townies next home game is Sunday July 5th at 6p vs the M/E Mariners.

Mariners 5 Generals 2

 5-2 win 

Caz Ostrowski cg 10k 3 hits 

PPD Mariners Generals

Due to unplayable field conditions the Mariners and Generals will play Wednesday night in Essex.

Towenies sweep Giants on Sunday 6/21

 Rockport sweeps double header vs Beverly on Sunday 6/21 at Evans Field winning 1st game 5-3 and 8-4 in the nitecap.

Mariners 13 Rams 0

 Mariners win 13-0 in 5 innings 

Caz Ostrowski cg 6 k 1 hit allowed 

Caulin Rogers, EJ field and Brett Moore all had 3 hits 

Caz Ostrowski 4 hits 

James Dolan had a triple 

Mariners 7 Rams 0

 7-0 win 

Abbott 5IP and Moore 2IP combined to  shutout the Rams.

EJ field 2 hits 5 rbi 

Townies 5 Chiefs 2

 Rockport wins 5-2 over Ipswich Sunday June 14th at Evans Field behind Kenzie Quinn and Derick MacDowell on the mound with Brock Currier, Danny Hafey, and Jack Sperry leading the way at the plate.

Mariners 7 Beverly 0

Mariners 5 Giants 0

 Caz Ostrowski pitched a 3 hit shutout with 8k. Caulin Rogers added 2 hits for the Mariners.

Mariners @ Townies canceled tonight, 5/31

 Rockport game vs Manchester/Essex scheduled for tonite 5/31 at Evans Field has been banged due to rain. Makeup TBD.

Rowley 7 Beverly 6

Townies 5 Generals 0

 Rockport Townies shut out the Hamilton Generals 5-0 at Patton Park to open the season for each club on Thursday 5/28 behind Derick MacDowell's 14K CG, with Brayden Francis & Jack Sperry leading the way at the plate with two hits each, and Mike Murphy & Zach Oliver each with a hit. Townies home opener is Sunday 5/31 at 6p vs the Manchester/Essex Mariners.

Mariners 3 Chiefs 0

 Zack Abbott and Tommy Elliot combined to shut out Ipswich last night in Essex 3 to 0.

Mariners 5 Chiefs 4

 Caz Ostrowski picked up the win and Brett Moore got the save in a tight game Monday night in Ipswich.

2026 Season Kick-Off

After opening day rain-outs the 2026 season will officially kick off today in Ipswich.  The Mariners will take on the Chiefs at Bialek Park, first pitch 5:45pm

2025 Season Re-Cap

 

2025 PLAYOFFS

• SEMI-FINALS
• (4) Rowley vs. (1) M/E
• Mariners win series (2-0)
• (3) Rockport vs. (2) Hamilton
• Generals win series (2-0)
• FINALS
• (2) Hamilton vs. (1) M/E
• Generals win series 3-0

2025 ITL Standings

• TEAM - W-L-T - POINTS
• Man./Essex 15-5 (30)
• Hamilton 14-6 (27)*
• Rockport 13-6-1 (27)
• Rowley 9-10-1 (19)
• Beverly 5-15 (10)
• Ipswich 3-17 (6)