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Chiefs bring Ipswich pride to ITL. The Salem News

Townies roll to Game 1 victory. Gloucester Daily Times

Generals Sweep

The Hamilton Generals will make their first finals appearance since 1991 after defeating the Ipswich Chiefs tonight 4-2. Jeff Jensen earned the victory, Chris Lane pitched well but was charged with the loss for the Chiefs. Jensen allowed only 2 hits and two unearned runs while allowing no walks and striking out four. The Generals came from behind tonight to earn the win thanks to a well balanced team effort of great pitching, solid defense, and key hits.

A Close Play at First.

The Generals got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning by manufacturing a run. Andre Painchaud led the inning off with the game's first single. Jones then bunted him over to second. With 2 outs, Mark Potter hit a slow roller toward third. The ball got away as there was a close play at first, Painchaud was able to score on the back end.

Chris Lane Delivers to the Plate.

In the second the Chiefs got their two runs and took the lead. With two outs, Knox and Zaremba were able to reach on errors to keep the inning alive. Dave Shoreman was able to take advantage of the miscues with a sharp RBI single to left. Another error allowed Zaremba to score the Chiefs second run.

In the fourth inning, Mark Potter tied the game with a 2-out RBI-single up the middle that plated Jones from second. With the score now tied in the bottom of the fifth a Mark Provost single was followed by a Jered Stewart 2-run towering shot into the pond. The score stuck as Jensen shut down the Chiefs the rest of the way.

The Generals won 4-2 and earned a trip to the finals. Provost, Painchaud, Stewart, Funchion and Potter contributed hits for the Generals. Shoreman and Montecalvo had the hits for the Chiefs. This was Jensen's first career playoff win. The Generals will play either Manchester or Rockport in the finals. Game one will be this Saturday at 2pm, location TBD. Sunday, game two will be at Patton Park, 2pm start time.

Game 1: Townies 6, Mariners 0

Rockport pitcher Adam Orlando threw a three-hit, complete game shutout against the Manchester Mariners Tuesday night in Rockport. He also walked one, plunked a batter and struck out nine. Rory Gentile had two of the three Manchester hits.

Rockport was paced by Mike Anderson (3-4, RBI, 3 runs), Orlando (3-3, 2RBI), and Chris Bouchie (2-3, BB, 2RBI). Justin Paradis, Tom Robertson and Brock Currier also had hits for the Townies. Robertson turned in the defensive play of the day with a diving, run-saving catch in center field to end the first with runners on the corners. Bouchie made several nice plays in left field on deep fly balls.

The teams will rematch at 5:45 in Essex tomorrow night. A Rockport win places the Townies in the ITL Finals for the tenth straight year. The ITL record for consecutive Finals appearances is held by the Mariners, appearing in an amazing sixteen in a row, a streak that ended in 2002.

Semi-Finals Game 1: Manchester/Essex @ Rockport

Game 1 of the Townies vs. Mariners semi-final series was postponed due to field conditions. The game will be played tomorrow at Evans Field in Rockport. Note game time has been changed to 6:00 PM.

Game 2: Ipswich @ Hamilton, Postponed

Due to field conditions, Game 2 will be played at Patton Park tomorrow night, Tuesday. The game time will remain at 5:30pm.

Generals Take Game One, 11-4

Judd Funchion pitched 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 runs to earn a game 1 victory in Ipswich Sunday night. The Generals were able to get out to a quick lead, scoring 7 runs total in the first two innings off Ipswich starter Brad Eaton. The loss was Eaton's first of the season.

In the first inning Andre Painchaud delivered a 2-RBI single, and later scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Mark Provost got a 2-RBI single and Tom Jones added an RBI single of his own. The score remained 7-0 until the fourth inning thanks to some timely Generals defense. In the second, Mark Potter turned a nifty double play. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third and two out, Bryan Vitale was able to track down a wild pitch and fire home to the covering Funchion. Funchion applied the tag to the would be base stealer to end the threat and the inning.

The Chiefs got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, scoring one run on a Lane RBI single that plated Jim Bodwell. In the fifth, Ryan Montecalvo delivered a two out bases loaded double scoring two. After five complete innings the Generals led 7-3.

Just when the Chiefs seemed to get back in the game and figure Funchion out, the Generals were able to score 4 more runs in the sixth, thanks to a 3-run HR from Bryan Vitale. Tim O'Leary came in for the seventh to relieve Funchion, and shut the door on the Chiefs. Mark Provost, Jered Stewart, and Tom Jones each contributed 2 hits for the Generals. Ryan Monteclavo got two hits and 2-RBI for the Chiefs. Game 1 goes to the Generals in the best of 3 series by the score of 11-4. Game two will be Monday night at Patton Park in Hamilton. Game time will be moved up to 5:30pm.


Chiefs Playoff Preview

Derby Draws Record Number, Scialdone Victorious!

Derek Scialdone blasted 17 Home Runs today to outlast the field and take home the 2007 HR title. All ITL teams were represented in the 2nd annual ITL Home Run Derby. 31 current players and 2 alumni rounded out the field vying for the Leo J. Marino Trophy. After a slow start in round 1 the field quickly was reduced to 11 players to start round 2.

Things got more interesting in round two as there were 3 spots up for grabs in the final. Every team had at least one player make it to round two. Scialdone hit a record 9 HR's in the second round to set the standard. Tom Radzim (Chiefs), who was a 2006 finalist, landed in the finals once again with a 4 HR second round giving him 6 total thus far on the day. Defending champ Nate Bertolino (Mariners) hit 4 monster HR's in round two to give him 5 total. That would be the magic number for the last spot in the final.

Jered Stewart Launches one Through the Willow Tree.

Bryan Lafata (Mariners), the last hitter of round 2 and teammate to Bertolino, tied him with 4 homers in the round and 5 overall. A 3 out "swing off" was needed to decide the final participant. In the Extra frame, Bertolino was able to use his experience to out last Lafata. Bertolino knocked four homers to advance to the final. He made sure to thank Lafata for giving him some good pitches to hit.

Finalists: Nate Bertolino, Tom Radzim, & Derek Scialdone

In the finals, Tom Radzim contributed 3 more HR's. Bertolino was able to match that plus one to take the finals lead 4-3 with Scialdone still due to hit. The layoff didn't hurt as Scialdone was able to pick-up right where he left off in Round two and put on quite a show. 7 final round HR's took the title and ended quite a fun day at Patton Park. Congratulations Derek, of the Beverly Giants. In the end, fans saw 59 home runs on the day. As many as 30 of those splashed down into the Patton Park Pond, all and all a great day. A special thanks to all players participating and helping out during today's event. We'll see you all next year!

Chiefs Clinch Regular Season Title

The Ipswich Chiefs beat the Hamilton Generals tonight 9-8 to clinch the regular season title and the top seed in the playoffs. The two teams will become familiar with each other as they will square off in the first round, Game 1 will be Sunday night in Ipswich (5:45pm start).

The planets were all in line as Tom Jones got his first career pitching start, ever. Jones, who hasn't seen action on the mound since 1994 figured the long layoff would treat his arm well. The Chief's line-up proved otherwise. Zaremba led off the game with a deep HR to center. Tom Radzim added a 2RBI double later in the first. When all was said and done, four Chiefs came around to score. The Generals got one back in the first on a Bryan Vitale sacrifice fly that plated Mark Provost.

With the score now 5-1 Chiefs, the Generals pulled within one after a Jim Maloney 3-Run HR. Ipswich answered quickly in the third with a 3-run HR from Dave Shoreman. That closed the book on Jones who made way for Chris Judd. Over the next 3 innings the Generals were able to chip away at Workman and ended up tying the game at 8-8. Judd Funchion delivered a solo HR, & Tom Jones and Mark Provost delivered RBI hits. The later plated Tim O'Leary to tie the game.

In the sixth, with one out, Dave Shoreman was able to work a walk. He gave way to Stanley who came in to pinch run. A wild pickoff throw allowed him to advance to second. Chris Judd was then able to make a pick-off attempt to second. Stanley got caught off the bag but another wild throw, this time into center-field allowed Stanley to score all the way from second. The go ahead run stuck as the Generals failed to score for the first time all night in the bottom of the sixth. The game was then called due to darkness.

Both starting pitchers did not figure in the decision. Doucette picked up the win for the Chiefs pitching 2, Chris Judd was charged with the loss. The win clinches the top spot for the Chiefs as the Rockport Townies lost to the Topsfield Tories tonight by forfeit. Hamilton will travel to Ipswich Sunday, and the Mariners will make the trek to Rockport Monday in first round playoff action.

In The Event of a Tie

From the By-Laws :

In the event of a tie in the final standings, the involved team’s records will determine the tie breaker as follows:

A) most wins
B) records against each other
C) combined scores against each other
D) Toss of the coin, except if the teams involved in a tie are in fourth place. In that case, they will play one seven (7) inning game on the first Saturday following the regular season on a neutral field. The home team is to be determined by the above method.

Mariners 3 - Generals 4

The Generals were able to edge the Mariners 4-3 last night at Patton Park in another close game. Tim O'Leary earned the win for the Generals pitching 4 innings in relief, allowing no runs and giving up only one hit.

The Mariners struck first is the top of the first inning with 2 runs. Hildabrand got a SAC fly, and Buckley recorded an RBI double off Generals starter Judd Funchion. The Generals answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the first to tie the game. Bryan Vitale got and RBI double.

In the third the two teams traded runs again. Hildabrand scored for the Mariners while Provost scored on a wild pitch for the Generals. With the score still tied at 3 apiece, Jim Maloney led off the fifth with a double and was able to score the go ahead run on a fielder's choice hit by Andre Painchaud. The score stood the rest of the way.

The Mariners finish their regular season at 15-9, clinching 3rd place. They will play either Ipswich or Rockport in the first round of the playoffs starting on Monday. The Generals play their regular season finale on Friday night against the Chiefs. The Generals' playoffs start on Sunday with the possibility of the same two foes.

Townies Drop Rams

Rockport rallied in the seventh to break a late tie and win at Rowley Thursday night.

Details to follow...

Chiefs 11 - Rams 7

Last night the Ipswich Chiefs beat the Rowley Rams by the score of 11-7. Rowley scored 4 runs in the bottom half of the 7th to make it 11-7. Kevin Smolla pitched really well Going 6+ innings. Brad Eaton came on to earn the save.

A win on Friday night in Hamilton would put the Chiefs at no worse than a tie for the top spot in the league. The seedings are still too close to call, a lot can still happen with only two days remaining in the regular season. The Hamilton Generals are the only lock on playoff positioning in the fourth spot, but they can play the role of spoiler and really effect the standings in their final two games.

Two wins in their final two will put the Rockport Townies atop the standings once again, but they will need an Ipswich loss for sole possession. The Mariners still aren't shut out of the top spot either, but will need some help. Check out the schedule as there a lot of great games tonight and tomorrow that will determine the playoff match ups.

Tories Return to ITL a Success

After a year off the Topsfield Tories have returned to the ITL, making the league bigger and better. Though the team struggled to get many wins in their first season back, the other teams in the league would admit that they were a much tougher opponent than their record may have suggested. The Tories look to improve in the years to come and have a strong nucleus to do so.





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Tories Return

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Topsfield - 11, Beverly - 3

The Topsfield Tories ended the Beverly Giants season with an 11-3 win at Proctor Field last night. The game was called because of darkness after 6 innings. Brian Greene had 2 doubles and 3 RBI, while Galugi had a long homerun and 2 RBI to lead the Topsfield offense. The Tories batted around in the 3rd inning scoring 5 times blowing it open. Ben Hathaway and Doug Hittinger also had two hits apiece. Greene picked up the win going 4 innings in relief. For Beverly, Matt Obrien had 2 hits while Derek Scialdone and Alex Manzi had RBI hits.

Beverly finishes the season at 11-13. Despite rumors that veteran Rocky Pisa (3-0, 2.56) would be traded to a contender for prospects at the deadline, no deal materialized and the 43 year old righty will be back for another season with Beverly...

Home Run Derby This Saturday

The 2nd Annual ITL Home Run Derby will take place this Saturday, August 4th at Patton Park in Hamilton. The event will kick off promptly at 1pm. All current and former ITL players, Fans, and officials are encouraged to attend even if you don't plan to participate. The day is a lot of fun and designed to get everyone together in preparation for this year's playoffs (which begin Sunday!).

Participating players please be there no later than 12:45pm, and please don't forget to wear your game shirts. The entry fee this year will be $20 and the order of hitters will be determined by a drawing. So you will have to be there at the start so you won't miss your spot. The Derby itself will consist of 3 rounds, exact numbers of players advancing in rounds will be determined by how many participants compete. Each player will get 10 outs to hit as many HR's as they can. Any swing not resulting in a HR is considered an out.

While not hitting, please be prepared to shag balls to help the day move quickly and smoothly. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Tom Jones @ itlbaseball@gmail.com.

See you Saturday!

Rowley 0 - Ipswich 8

The Ipswich Chiefs defeated the Rowley Rams Monday night by the score of 8-0. The rematch is tonight in Rowley.