Townies 2 Mariners 6

In a make-up game from early in the season, the Mariners defeated the Townies 6-2 at Memorial Park in Essex on Thursday night. The win puts the Mariners in first place for the time being with 28 points (14-8 record) with only 2 games remaining. Both Rockport and Ipswich are at 26 points with 4 games remaining for the Townies & Chiefs (13-7 records).

Mike Cain picked up the victory on the mound for the Mariners, going 6 innings while only allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits and striking out 8. Jared Knowlton pitched a scoreless 7^th inning to finish the game. Ty Watkins pitched 4 innings on the mound, while surrendering 6 earned runs on 5 hits, 3bb, 1k, and 1hbp. Pat Clark relieved Watkins and threw 2 scoreless innings.

The Mariners were led by Charlie Choate's 3 run homer in the 1^st inning, and Nate Bertolino's rbi triple in the 3^rd inning. Kyle Hildebrand had 2 hits for the Mariners, while Rory Gentile, Cain, and Whit Graham also hit safely. Bryan Lafata scored 2 of the Mariners runs, and Ian Buckley recorded an rbi. Brent Currier, Marc Bouchie, Justin Paradis, and Tom Robertson all recorded hits on the night for the Townies. Robertson recorded an rbi hit, while Bouchie and Currier scored the Townies runs.

The Mariners wrap their season up with a home game Tuesday vs Hamilton and travel to Hamilton on Thursday August 2^nd. The Townies play this Sunday, as they host Topsfield for a doubleheader.

Mariners 8 Rams 2, again

On Wednesday evening the Mariners completed the 2 game sweep of the Rams with an 8-2 victory at Eiras Park in Rowley. It was the second consecutive night that the finally tally was 8-2. Ryan Marques recorded his 6^th victory of the season on the hill, while scattering 7 hits and giving up 2 earned runs. Jared Knowlton pitched one scoreless inning to finish the game. White took the loss on the hill for Rowley, surrendering 5 runs in his 5 innings of work. Breidenbach came in relief, giving up 3 runs but striking out 3 also.

In a closely contested game the Mariners broke a 2-2 game open in the top of the 5^th with a 3 run homer from Bryan Lafata. In the top of the 7^th inning, 3^rd baseman Charlie Choate connected for a 3 run homer to put the Mariners up by 6 runs. The Mariners were led by Rory Gentile (2-4, 2r), Lafata (1-1, hr, 3bb, 3r, 3rbi), Choate's 3 run homer, and Ian Buckley (1-1, 2bb, sac, 1r). Chad Figurido recorded his first career ITL hit in going 1-1 with 2bb's on the night.

Ralph Renzilli led the Rams with 2 hits and a hbp, while scoring both the Rowley runs. Dan Knight contributed 2 hits in the game and Berube, Willett, Breidenbach and Watson all hit safely for the Rams.

Rowley travels to Ipswich on Monday night to play the Chiefs at 5:45, while the Mariners play tonight (Thurs 7/26) at home in a makeup game vs the Rockport Townies at 5:45. Rowley drops to 5-15 with the loss, while the Mariners improve to 13-8 on the season.

Rockport 6, Beverly 1

The Beverly Giants' playoff hopes took a serious hit Wednesday night in Beverly, as Rockport took the game 6-1. The Giants now need to run the table and get some help to earn a spot in the ITL Playoffs. In their existence, Beverly has never been a spectator during the league playoffs.

ITL rookie Andy Marques turned in another outstanding performance on the mound for the Townies in a complete game effort. The hard-throwing righthander scattered just four hits, walked three and fanned three. Only two runners advanced as far as third base on the night.

The Townies collected ten hits in the win. Tom Robertson, Brock Currier, Adam Orlando and Chris Bouchie each had two hits. One of Currier's hits was a two-run homerun to left-center field. Orlando made a great catch on sinking line drive to center field in the top of the first, resulting in a double play. For Beverly, pitcher Rocky Pisa made a nice grab on liner back through the box, also resulting in a twin killing.

Rockport will take on Manchester/Essex tomorrow night in Essex in a make-up game. Beverly, who next plays host to Ipswich on Sunday, will be rooting for the Townies to take out the Mariners to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Rams 2 Mariners 8

On Tuesday night the Mariners improved to 12-8 with an 8-2 win over the Rams (5-14) at Memorial Field in Essex. Mike Gibbon pitched 5 strong innings to earn his 3^rd victory on the hill. Gibbon gave up 1 unearned run while scattering 4 hits, striking out 4 and walking none. Colin Ahearn and Charlie Choate both pitched one inning in relief of Gibbon. Dave Leavitt took the loss on the hill for the Rams after going 4 innings and surrendering 7 runs (6 earned).

The Mariners were led at the plate by Rory Gentile (2-2, 2r, hr), Nate Bertolino (2-3), Ian Buckley (2-2, 3rbi). Choate and Bryan Lafata also hit safely, and scored a couple runs each for the Mariners. 5 different Rams recorded the 5 singles for Rowley.

The two teams meet again tonight (Wed 7/25) at Eiras Park in Rowley at 5:45. The Mariners then play Thursday night vs. Rockport in Essex and the Rams are off until Monday night when they travel to Ipswich.

Make up game

Ipswich will travel to Hamilton on Friday, August 3rd for a make up game. 5:45pm start

Beverly - 10, Hamilton - 2

The Beverly Giants improved to 11-10 behind Derek Scialdone's 3 homeruns. Scialdone homered in the 1st, 5th, and 6th innings knocking in four runs to lead the Giants to a 10 to 2 victory over the Hamilton Generals (10-8-1). Jeff Giannino contributed a two run homer, and Ty Besse was 3 for 4 for the Giants. On the mound, Luke Deschamps earned the complete game victory allowing just two unearned runs on 3 hits, while striking out 5. Jeff Jensen took the loss for the Generals.

The Giants host Rockport Wednesday night while the Generals play host to Topsfield on Thursday.

Chiefs Return Favor, Drop Rockport 5-0

Brad Eaton dominated again at rainy Linebrook Field in Ipswich last night, scattering just five hits and stranding eight Townies on base in a 5-o Ipswich victory. Brent Currier took the loss for Rockport. The victory places the Chiefs alone in first place once again, taking the season series between the two teams, 3-1. Due to a league-low six losses, the Townies control their own fate in regards to clinching the regular season championship. With six games left on the schedule this will be a difficult task, as ITL teams are playing hard and jockeying for playoff position over the last two weeks of the regular season.

Topsfield 10 Hamilton 7

The Tories came back to get a win against a tough Hamilton squad in a makeup game Monday evening. David Galugi and Mike Driscoll led the Topsfield attack with homeruns. The two teams will square off again Thursday and Friday.

The Generals took a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning, then the wheels came off. The Tories sent 12 men to the plate scoring 7 runs. Galugi started the scoring in the fifth with a 2-run HR to right. With two outs, the Tories did the rest of the damage as the Generals made several keys errors. A Johnson double made those errors hurt. When all was said and done, the Generals found themselves trailing by two. Mike Driscoll added a solo HR in the sixth finishing the scoring. The game was called due to darkness after the Generals failed to rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Andre Painchaud lead the Generals' offense with a 2-RBI double. Tim O'Leary pitched well but was charged with the loss.

Townies, Rams Set Make-Up Date

Rowley will host Rockport on Thursday, August 2nd in a make-up of last week's suspended game.

Townies Take Share of First Place, 12-0 Over Ipswich

The Rockport Townies pounded out 15 hits en route to 12-0 victory over the Ipswich Chiefs at Evans Field in Rockport. The game was a test of each team's depth, as seven starters between the clubs were absent due to other commitments. The win pulls the Townies even with the Chiefs at 24 points atop the ITL standings, with Rockport a game up in the loss column.

Adam Orlando was the star on the mound for Rockport, pitching a complete game two-hitter. He struck out seven and walked none. The Townies were led offensively by Chris Bouchie, who homered, hit a mammoth ground-rule double and scored three times in a 3-4 effort. Ty Watkins was 3-3 with a double and pair of singles. Mike Bertolino, Dan Gove and Justin Paradis had a pair of hits apiece.

The two teams face off again tomorrow at 5:45 at Linebrook Field in Ipswich. The result of the game has important playoff implications for the ITL.

Beverly - 17, Rowley - 8

Beverly (10-10) kept its slim playoff hopes alive with a 17 to 8 win over Rowley (5-13). Rocky Pisa improved to 3-0 on the season allowing just 5 unearned runs over 5 innings.

Beverly's offensive explosion had many contributors: Nick Adams was 3 for 4 with a HR and 2RBI, Jeff Giannino was 2 for 5 with a HR and 3RBI, Derek Scialdone was 2 for 5 with a HR and 3RBI, and Andy Hobin was 3 for 3 with 2RBI. Beverly had 19 hits on the evening.

The Giants travel to Hamilton Tuesday and host Rockport Wednesday. Beverly could use some help from Rowley who play 4th place Manchester twice this week.

M/E beats Topsfield

Manchester/Essex jumped all over Topsfield early for an easy win on Friday night.

Darkness Halts Townies, Rams

Wednesday night's Rockport at Rowley game was suspended due to "darkness" in the fourth inning. The game will be replayed in its entirety at a yet to be determined date.

Game Change

Tonight's game at Patton Park has been moved to Monday, July 23rd. Same time, same place.

ITL in the News...

Here are some links to articles that have run locally in the news. On the right side of this page there are now links to the local news sports pages.

• Giants on a Roll
• Crunch Time for Mariners
• Hamilton Extends Streak
• Chiefs are Kings of the Hill
  

Tories 8 - Mariners 13

The Mariners beat the Tories last night by the score of 13-8. More details to follow...