Mariners clinch ITL finals berth, will meet Rowley again
For the ninth season in a row, the Manchester Essex Mariners will be competing in the Intertown Twilight Baseball League Finals.
With an 8-7 win over the Rockport Townies on Friday night, the Mariners swept the best-of-three semifinals series and will be heading to the finals.
It was a back-and-forth battle on Friday night at Memorial Field in Essex and the Mariners were able to hold off the Townies.
Rockport jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Mariners took that lead back as a Kellen Field home run gave them a 5-2 lead. The Townies, however, were not going down without a fight as they regained the lead with a Nolan Webb grand slam in the fifth inning to take a 7-5 lead. But the Mariners responded the next inning as Field again delivered the big hit to put the Mariners back ahead, 8-7.
The Townies again threatened in the seventh with the tying run on second, but a diving catch from Adam Philpott in left field finished off the Mariners 8-7 win.
Manchester Essex jumped out to a lead in the series on Thursday night as Rusty Tucker struck out 15 in a complete game shutout and 6-0 Mariners win.
The 2020 ITL Finals will be a rematch of the 2019 finals as the Mariners will take on the Rowley Rams. Last year, the Mariners edged the Rams in an epic five-game series, coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning and winning on a walk-off homer run from Tucker in the bottom of the ninth.
The Rams clinched their spot in the finals with a crazy win on Friday night, 13-11 over the Hamilton Generals to sweep the best-of-three semifinals. The Generals actually tied the score at 13-13 in the top of the seventh inning, but darkness forced the game to be stopped before the bottom of the inning could be played. That means the score reverted back to what it was after the sixth inning, with Rowley leading 13-11.
The best-of-five ITL Finals begins on Wednesday at Eiras Park in Rowley (5:30 p.m.) with Game 2 on Thursday at Memorial Field (5:30 p.m.). Game 3 is back at Eiras Park on Saturday with Game 4 on Sunday in Essex and Game 5 in Rowley the following Tuesday if necessary.
