Generals 12 - Rams 6

Tim O'Leary picked up his first ITL win in a complete game effort. The Generals got off to a fast start scoring the game's first 12 runs over the first 5 1/2 innings. O'Leary matched that output on the mound as he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The Rams got back at the Generals in the last 2 innings by scoring 6, but a total comeback was not in the cards.

Hamilton scored 7 in the first 2 innings behind 3 sacrifice flys, a RBI single from Mark Provost, and a RBI double from Andre Painchaud. The Generals put together 5 more runs over the next 4 innings.


In the sixth, the Rams broke up the no-hitter in a big way by scoring 4. Jeff Wood broke the ice with a single. Moore delivered a long 2-RBI double with the bases loaded later in the inning. The Rams got 2 more in the 7th but O'Leary was able to finish it off with a strike-out.

Brasseur was charged with the loss & Dave Leavitt pitched well in relief. Jim Maloney lead the Generals with 3 hits and reached base 5 times, scoring twice. Justin Tilley and Andre Painchaud also added two hits a piece. Jeff Wood and Renzulli each had two hits for the Rams. The two teams finish off the season series tomorrow night at Patton Park, 5:45 start.

Rams Turn a Nice Double Play.

Rockport 3 - M/E 2 (8 innings)

Adam Orlando and Mike Gibbon had a pitchers duel; Orlando getting the win and pitching all 8 innings and Gibbon was the tough luck loser pitching 7 plus innings.

Chiefs Top Tories

Brad Eaton moves to 6-0 on the season as he pitched 4 scoreless innings of baseball against a testy Tories squad to beat them 11-0. Tyler Hammond and D. A. Workman pitched a scoreless remainder of the game as the Tribe has now moved to 11-4 on the season. Dylan Durning, Andy Knox, and Mr. Workman all had timely hits helping power the Chiefs offensive.

The Chiefs and Tories will become quite familiar with one another as the week is full of games between the 2 squads.

Generals 7, Rams 1

The Generals and the Rams locked into a tight battle for 6 full innings but a 5 run 7th allowed the Generals to pull away. Jeff Jensen went the distance for the Generals to record the win giving up 9 hits with 1 walk and 5 K's.

Matt Warden made only his second ITL start for the Rams, he pitched 6-1/3rd giving up 11 hits, 6 earned runs with just 2 walks and 10K's! Matt pitched better than his line shows as 4 of the hits and 5 of the runs came in the 7th inning. Offensively for the Rams Ralph Renzulli and Gordon Breidenbach both contributed 2 hits. For the Generals, Tom Jones had 3 hits & 2 RBI while Maloney, Vitale and Painchaud each added 2 hits.

Warden retired the first 4 batters of the game via strike out. Later in the second, Jones delivered an RBI double to give the Generals the 1-0 lead. In the bottom the the second with the Rams threatening, the Generals turned a nifty, and rare, 5-3-6 double play. In the fourth the Generals needed some nice defense again to get out of a jam. With the bases loaded and two outs Bryan Vitale was able to snap the 3-0 pitch to first to pick off a runner that ended the threat.

In the fifth the Generals added one more to take a 2-0 lead. Justin Tilley made a nice hustle play on the bases as he beat a throw to second base on a double play ball. An high throw to first allowed Jim Maloney to score from third. Vitale added an RBI double to deep center in the seventh that scored Tilley on a close play at the plate to spark the 5 run inning. Jensen, who kept his pitch count down, was able to finish off the Rams in the seventh.

Vitale Doubles to Center.

All together this was a well played, competitive and well pitched game with only 3 walks issued on the night.
The 2 teams will meet twice more this week, Wednesday @ Eiras Field in Rowley and Thursday @ Patton Park in Hamilton. Both games start at 5:45pm

Rockport 12, Manchester/Essex 1

The Rockport Townies downed Manchester by a score of 12-1 last night at Evans Field in Rockport, though the game was closer than the score would indicate. The game was a well-pitched 3-1 affair into the bottom half of the fifth inning, as Mariners hurler Charlie Choate was holding the Townies in check. After Choate fatigued and left the mound, the Townies rallied for multiple runs in the fifth and sixth, pushing the margin to double digits.

Brent Currier went the distance for Rockport in just his third start of the season, settling down after allowing a run in the first. First-year outfielder Dan Gove led the Townies attack with a three-hit performance. Rockprt now sits two points behind Ipswich for first place, with the Marniers in third. The two teams will play the second half of this week's home-and-home series on Tuesday night at 5:45 in Essex.

Man./Essex 1 - Ipswich 5

In flirting with a no hitter Brad Eaton brought home another victory for the Chief's last Monday night 5-1.

Eaton (5-0)continued his masterful ways against ITL opponets by tossing a complete game 2 hitter, while striking out 8, and walking 3 batters. Eaton let up the first hit in the top of the 6th which was a texas leaguer into center field. The only run Eaton let up was on a wild pitch in the 6th.

Offensively for the Tribe, Chris Zaremba was 1-3 with 2 RBI's. Tyler Hammond and Eaton chipped in with 2 hits apiece while each scoring a run. Andy Workman, Ryan Montecalvo, and Jimmy Bodwell also chipped in with hits to help the Chief's win their 9th game of the season.

The Chief's battle the Giants of Beverly on Thursday night July 5th. Come down to Linebrook where the action with begin at 5:45.

Beverly - 10, Topsfield - 6

Beverly (6-9) scored 6 runs in the first inning on their way to a 10 to 6 victory over Topsfield (1-9-1). A Ty Besse single, followed by two misplayed flyballs in the lights of Cooney, was followed by a 3 run homerun by Derek Scialdone. Brian Chirco added a two run single to stake Beverly to the early 6 run lead.

Rocky Pisa was in control after that as he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings to earn the win. Roger Dragani threw a scoreless sixth inning.

Beverly added two more runs in the 4th on a single by Derek Scialdone and a sacrifice fly by Jeff Barricelli. Then they added two more in the 5th when Jay Trowt singled home a run and Nick Adams hit a sacrifice fly.

For Topsfield, Doug Hittinger homered deep to left to start the scoring in the 2nd. C. Marabito would add an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-2. In the top of the 5th, Topsfield came within three runs when Sylvestri knocked in a run but that was as close as the Tories would come. Matt Rayner pitched all 6 innings for Topsfield and took the loss.

Rowley @ Topsfield PPD

Rowley @ Topsfield was postponed due to weather concerns. Make up TBA.

Topsfield at Beverly Game Time Change

The Topsfield at Beverly game scheduled for this Sunday at 5:45PM has been moved to 7:30PM due to a Babe Ruth State tournament being played on Cooney Field during the day. Topsfield's coaches and the umpires have been notified.

Ipswich - 1, Beverly - 0

The Ipswich Chiefs took the rain shortened game by the score of 1 to 0. Ipswich scored their only run in the bottom of the 4th inning. With men on first and second, a tailor made double play ball took a high hop over the Giants' second baseman's head resulting in the runner scoring from second and runners advancing to second and third with nobody out. Luke Deschamps relieved Kyle Sewyck who pitched very well (3IP, 1R). Deschamps pitched his way out of the jam leaving the score at 1 to 0 thru 4.

In the top of the 5th inning Beverly threatened to score, but left a runner at third base. After a scoreless bottom half of the 5th with the rain and darkness creeping in, Beverly rallied in the 6th. Three walks, a throwing error, and a wild pitch resulted in a run scored and runners on 1st and 3rd with two out. At this point, the sky was pitch black and the umpires called a delay that would eventually lead to a rainout. The score reverted back to the end of the fifth inning, and Ipswich won 1-0.

Kevin Smolla pitched well for Ipswich, shutting out the Giants on only 3 hits over 5 official innings.

Funchion Pitches No-Hitter, Generals Beat Townies

Judd Funchion pitches a no-hitter as the Hamilton Generals beat the Rockport Townies 8-0, in 5 innings. The game was shortened due to the weather, but Funchion was rolling and had all his pitches working. The way things were going, the final 6 outs were probably just a formality anyway. Funchion only walked one, and it came with two outs in the top of the fifth on a full count pitch. The walk ended the perfect game bid, but the next hitter was retired securing the no-hitter. The rain and lighting moved in in the bottom of the fifth during a Generals rally, officially ending the game.

The Generals scored 6 runs in the fourth inning. Tom Jones had a 2-RBI double, a wild throw then allowed him to come all the way around from second. A total of 3 scored on the one play. Jim Maloney later added a 3-run home run to left. In the fifth the Generals added two more. With the bases still loaded and two outs, the game was then called.

Judd Funchion was the story though, pitching 5 complete hitless innings to pick up the victory. Vassallo was charged with the loss. The season series is over now for the two teams with the Townies taking 3 of the 4 games. Perhaps they will meet in the playoffs for the second straight year, time will tell as the second half of the season plays out.

Make Up Games Scheduled

Monday, July 9th
Hamilton vs. Rowley
@ Patton Park (Rowley home team)
5:45pm start


Wednesday, July 11th
Topsfield Tories vs. Ipswich Chiefs
@ Linebrook Rd. Field
5:45pm start


Wednesday, July 18th
Topsfield vs. Hamilton
@ Patton Park
5:45pm start

Rams 15 Tories 4

The Rams finally got something going on offense as they banged out 12 hits to go with 12 walks and they put up 15 to move their record to 5-7. The Rams struck first scoring 1 in the first and 2 in the second, but Topsfield posted a 3 in the third to tie the game, Rowley came back to score 6 in their half of the third and cruised in with the 15-4 final. The Rowley offense was led by leadoff hitter Dan Berube, shaking off a slow start to the season Berube erupted with a 3 -4 night with 6 RBI , 3 Runs and a stolen base. For the Rams Tim Moore added a big 2 RBI single, Dan Tomasz went 2-4 with a stolen base and Jeff Walter added 2 hits and 2 RBI. Matt Wile was the starting pitcher for the Rams, he surrendered just 4 hits with 6 strikeouts in 4+ innings, but he struggled with his command walking 5 and hitting 3 batters. Joe White entered the game for the Rams in the 5th and pitched 3 Innings giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 0 runs. For the Tories, Travers and Rogers both had 2 hits with a run scored. The two teams will meet for the final time this season, Friday night at Proctor.

A Fitting Tribute...

Before the game on Sunday the Rockport Townies unveiled a nice bench in the memory of long time ITL friend and Umpire Bob "Buff" Madison. This bench, that sits just behind home plate at Evans Field, has a great view and serves as a fitting tribute.

"The best seat in the house."


Cal Grimes offers a few words.

Generals 5 - Townies 9

The Townies were able to pull out another game in the late innings against the Generals. Brent Currier picked up the win in relief, Jeff Jensen pitched well but was charged with the loss. The game was a back and forth affair until the sixth when the Townies were able to take the lead for good with a big inning.

The Generals got things going in the first inning with an RBI single from Andre Painchaud. The Townies answered in the bottom half with an RBI from Brent Currier that scored Tom Robertson (2-4, double, 2 runs). Rockport took the lead with 2 in the second. 3 straight singles and a Greel sacrifice fly yielded the 2 runs.

Justin Tilley delivered an RBI single in the fourth for the Generals that plated Jim Maloney (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases). A two RBI triple off the bat of Tim O'Leary gave the Generals the lead in the fifth. Rockport quickly tied the game again scoring 1 in the bottom half of the inning. It the sixth Tom Jones (2-3, walk, run) got a two out RBI single that scored Painchaud, giving the Generals another 1 run lead. Again, the lead would be short lived.

In the bottom of the sixth the Townies scored 5 runs putting the game out of reach. Greel, Anderson, C. Bouchie and M. Bouchie all delivered big hits in the inning. Mark Bouchie delivered the game changing hit. With the score tied and 1 out, runners on first and third Mark hit a first pitch line drive to first. A great play would have delivered a sure double play as the runner on first was off with the pitch, but the hard hit ball fell as it glanced off the tip of Painchaud's glove after a nice effort. A well played game went to the Townies on this day by the score of 9-5. The two teams play again this Thursday at Patton Park.

Generals Make up Games:

Monday, July 9th
Hamilton vs. Rowley
@ Patton Park (Rowley home team)
5:45pm start

Wednesday, July 18th
Topsfield vs. Hamilton
@ Patton Park
5:45pm start

Ipswich 7 - Mariners 11

On Sunday night the Manchester-Essex Mariners put themselves in a 2 way/possible 3 way tie for first place with an 11-7 victory over Ipswich at Memorial Park in Essex. The win puts the Mariners at 8-4 starting the 2nd half of the season, and also places the Chiefs at an identical record of 8-4. Pending Rockport's Sunday game, there is the potential for a 3-way tie.

Mike Gibbon threw 5 1/3 innings in his first start of the season, to gain his victory. Gibbon surrendered 5 earned runs on 7 hits, while striking out 6. Charlie Choate came in to close the last 1 2/3 innings to earn his first save of the season. The Chiefs managed 2 runs (1 earned) off Choate on 2 hits. Chris Lane suffered the loss for the Chiefs pitching 5+ innings striking out 6 and Andy Workman finished off the night on the hill.

The Mariners were led by Nate Bertolino who went 4-4 on the night including a 2b,hr,4rbi, and 3 runs scored. Charlie Choate (2-3, hr, 3rbi, 3r), Ian Buckley (2-4, 2 r) were also big contributors to the Mariners victory. Whit Graham and Bryan Lafata also hit safely with Lafata recording 3 runs scored.

At the plate for the Chiefs it was the Ryan Montecalvo and Andy Workman show. Montecalvo, the veteran shortstop led the Chiefs with a 3-4 night including 2hr, 1 double, 3rbi, and 2 runs scored. Workman also contributed a 2 run homer, and finished the night 2-4 with 3rbi, and a run scored. Also hitting safely for Ipswich were Chris Zaremba, Tommy Radzim, Jim Bodwell (3b), and James Lampropolous.

The 2 teams meet again on Monday night for the backend of the double header at 5:45 in Ipswich at Linebrook Field. The winner of Monday's night matchup will take sole position of first place for the time being.